Yoshida Kenkō, Essays in Idleness - The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko

"Looking back on months and years of intimacy, to feel that your friend, while you still remember the moving words you exchanged, is yet growing distant and living in a world apart—all this is sadder far than partings brought by death."

Yoshida Kenkō, Essays in Idleness - The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko

"Are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full bloom, the moon only when it is cloudless? To long for the moon while looking on the rain, to lower the blinds and be unaware of the passing of the spring - these are even more deeply moving. Branches about to blossom or gardens strewn with flowers are worthier of our admiration."

Yoshida Kenkō, Essays in Idleness - The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko