"Once he had finished writing “The Life of a Stupid Man,” he happened to see a stuffed swan in a secondhand shop. It stood with its head held high, but its wings were yellowed and moth-eaten. As he thought about his life, he felt both tears and mockery welling up inside him. All that lay before him was madness or suicide. He walked down the darkening street alone, determined now to wait for the destiny that would come to annihilate him."
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Original Language: English
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The Life of a Stupid Man (1927), contained in Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics, 2009) ISBN 978-0140449709
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABnosuke_Akutagawa
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Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
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