Quote of the day by Natsume Soseki: ‘I believe that words uttered in passion contain a greater living…’ – Japanese literary giant on the power of emotion

A thought can be crafted in a very precise, neat and logical way. Yet sometimes, it is the emotional sentence uttered, before any reasoning takes hold, that reveals much more personal things.

This balance of intellect and emotions in the writings of the Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki can be seen as one of the key elements of modern Japanese literature. With his book on love, guilt, loneliness and human beings called "Kokoro", Natsume Soseki showed that words can be not just a means of communication of ideas, but also a powerful tool that carries the weight of experience.

Quote of the day by Natsume Soseki

“I believe that words uttered in passion contain a greater living truth than do those words which express thoughts rationally conceived. It is blood that moves the body. Words are not meant to stir the air only: they are capable of moving greater things.”

The passage appears in Kokoro, which was originally serialized in Japanese newspapers in 1914 and published as a book that same year. The novel follows a young narrator's relationship with an older man known as Sensei, whose story ultimately becomes an examination of guilt, betrayal, loneliness and the consequences of human choices.

Who was Natsume Soseki?

Natsume Soseki was born as Kinnosuke Natsume in Tokyo in 1867 in the times of rapid changes of Japanese society and culture. Soseki studied English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, graduating in 1893, and later worked as an English teacher. He taught in schools of Matsuyama and Kumamoto and then became a lecturer in universities.

He is widely regarded as one of modern Japan’s greatest writers and is often hailed as the country’s first modern novelist.

In 1900 Natsume Soseki was sent by the Japanese Ministry of Education to Great Britain for studies in English. However, this experience proved hard on him as he underwent serious mental problems while living in Britain. Having returned to Japan, he began to concentrate on literary activity.

He found success through the writing of I Am a Cat, a satiric novel that was a phenomenal success. In 1907, he left his teaching job to work as a writer in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun. He produced notable works that include Sanshiro, And Then, The Gate, Kokoro and Grass on the Wayside.

Soseki passed away in 1916 at the age of 49 having suffered from stomach ulcers for a long time and did not complete his last novel Light and Darkness.

What does Soseki mean by the quote?

This quote shows the difference between intellectual thinking and the truth of the heart.

Reasonably constructed words can be used to explain some concept, but passionate words can expose the true feelings of a person. The analogy of blood in the quote shows the difference physically: blood gives the organism movements and life, and emotions do the same to language.

This quote does not show that reasoning is unnecessary; it just states that the language gets power from emotion. A logically well-built phrase can tell something to a person, but words with strong feelings can convince, disturb, console and inspire him.

This concept certainly works well for the novel Kokoro, where concealment, confession, and how interiority affects relationships become important themes throughout the book.

Soseki on emotion, thought and human nature

“...you don't really become a finer person just by reading lots of books.”

“If you work with intellect, you create corners; if you yield to emotion, you are swept away.”

“Tokyo is larger than Kumamoto. Japan is larger than Tokyo. But larger than all are the thoughts in your head.”