A women who does not know herself has no choice other than to live with other people's evaluations.

For a girl, appearance can be a powerful form of oppression. No matter how intelligent a girl may be, no matter her many talents, these attributes are not easily discerned. Brains and talent will never stand up against a girl who is clearly physically attractive.

And what if, in order to keep on living, I have to continue to accept myself?

I decided then and there I was never going to have kids.

[..] and there are tons of people I hate so much that I wouldn't mind taking them out. But killing them wouldn't get me anywhere - that's the conclusion I always come to. If I'm going to pay for it in the end, I might as well let them live.

I suppose I’m the one responsible for destroying myself.

If people can't stand being alone, they have no choice but to die

In order to induce the process of decay, water is necessary. I think that, in the case of women, men are the water.

I’m still afraid of being totally honest. I’m more afraid of this than dying.

I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really hard to survive.

When stones lying warm in the sun were turned over, they exposed the cold, damp earth underneath and that was where Masako had burrowed deep. There was no trace of warmth in this dark earth, yet for a bug curled up tight in it, it was a peaceful and familiar world.