25 No Longer Human Quotes From the Best-Selling Book

Fans of classic literature will enjoy these No Longer Human quotes from the classic Japanese book.

No Longer Human is a Japanese novel by Osamu Dazai in 1948 and is considered Dazai’s masterpiece.

The novel is the second-best-selling book ever in Japan and was adapted to English in 1958.

No Longer Human discusses recurring themes in Dazai’s life.

Although the book portrays autobiographical elements, it is classified as semi-autobiographical due to the fictional characters.

Life themes such as depression, social alienation, and even suicide are discussed in the book.

The book follows the troubled life of Oba Yozo and his having to deal with feeling like he has to live a false life and not being able to be his true self sends his life spiraling.

Oba’s story, which seems to follow Dazai’s life, is told in three chapters or memorandums, each focusing on a different time of his life.

Take a look at these No Longer Human quotes to learn more about this classic Japanese novel.

You will also enjoy our article on Don Quixote quotes.

Best No Longer Human Quotes

Here are some popular quotes that give you a glimpse into the story and life of Osamu Dazai.

1. “Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness. Everything passes.” — Osamu Dazai

2. “Living itself is the source of sin.” — Osamu Dazai

3. “If you’ve slept soundly at night, the morning is exhilarating, I suppose.” — Osamu Dazai

4. “Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.” — Osamu Dazai

5. “My unhappiness stemmed entirely from my own vices, and I had no way of fighting anybody.” — Osamu Dazai

6. “The weak fear happiness itself. They can harm themselves on cotton wool.” — Osamu Dazai

7. “Disqualified as a human being. I had now ceased utterly to be a human being.” — Osamu Dazai

8. “I was frightened even by God. I could not believe in His love, only in His punishment.” — Osamu Dazai

9. “I am convinced that human life is filled with many pure, happy, serene examples of insincerity, truly splendid of their kind-of people deceiving one another without (strangely enough) any wounds being inflicted, of people who seem unaware even that they are deceiving one another.” — Osamu Dazai

10. “I suppose it would be no exaggeration to say that the world is composed entirely of unhappy people. But those people can fight their unhappiness with society fairly and squarely, and society for its part easily understands and sympathizes with such struggles.” — Osamu Dazai

No Longer Human Quotes About Depression

These quotes show the struggle with depression and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit your nearest hospital.

11. “I want to die more than ever before. There’s no chance now of a recovery.” — Osamu Dazai

12. “The thought of dying has never bothered me, but getting hurt, losing blood, becoming crippled and the like—no thanks.” — Osamu Dazai

13. “All I feel are the assaults of apprehension and terror at the thought that I am the only one who is entirely unlike the rest. “— Osamu Dazai

14. “I kept my melancholy and my agitation hidden, careful lest any trace should be left exposed. I feigned an innocent optimism; I gradually perfected myself in the role of the farcical eccentric.” — Osamu Dazai

15. “He could only consider me as the living corpse of a would-be suicide, a person dead to shame, an idiot ghost.” — Osamu Dazai

16. “Whenever I was asked what I wanted, my first impulse was to answer “Nothing.” The thought went through my mind that it didn’t make any difference, that nothing was going to make me happy.” — Osamu Dazai

17. “I felt as though the vessel of my suffering had become empty as if nothing could interest me now. I had lost even the ability to suffer.” — Osamu Dazai

Check out our collection of Normal People quotes if you enjoy this article.

No Longer Human Quotes Showing Struggle with Relationships and People

These quotes show the internal struggle that Dazai experienced with others.

18. “After being hurt by the world so much, they began to see the demons within humans. So without hiding it through trickery, they worked to express it.” — Osamu Dazai

19. “I know that I am liked by other people, but I seem to be deficient in the faculty to love others.” — Osamu Dazai

20. “The more I feared people, the more I was liked, and the more I was liked, the more I feared them—a process which eventually compelled me to run away from everybody.” — Osamu Dazai

21. “As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn’t matter how, I’ll be alright. If I succeed in that, the human beings probably won’t mind it too much if I remain outside their lives.” — Osamu Dazai

22. “For someone like myself in whom the ability to trust others is so cracked and broken that I am wretchedly timid and am forever trying to read the expression on people’s faces.” — Osamu Dazai

23. “The world, after all, was still a place of bottomless horror. It was by no means a place of childlike simplicity where everything could be settled by a simple then-and-there decision.” — Osamu Dazai

24. “I also have the impression that many women have been able, instinctively, to sniff out this loneliness of mine, which I confided to no one, and this in later years was to become one of the causes of my being taken advantage of.” — Osamu Dazai

25. “Even now, it comes as a shock if by chance I notice in the street a face resembling someone I know however slightly, and I am at once seized by a shivering violent enough to make me dizzy.” — Osamu Dazai

Why Did Dazai Write Such a Sad Story?

Dazai was actually in pain himself and was writing the story based on how he felt and his experiences in life.

For much of his life, his character attempted suicide.

Dazai attempted suicide five times and ultimately succeeded in taking his own life with his lover Tomie Yamazaki.

There is a belief that the book is meant to be Dazai’s will, as he took his life shortly after completing the last part of the book.

Share these No Longer Human quotes with your friends interested in classic literature, and post any comments about the book in the comment section below.