Shirayuki Hana

"Man is here for the sake of other men - above all, for those upon whose smile and well being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy.

Many times a day, I realize how much my own outer and inner life are built upon the labors of my fellow youth, both living and the dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received. My peace of mind is often troubled by the depressing sense that I have borrowed too heavily from the work of other youth.

I am like a horse for single harness, not cut out for tandem or teamwork. I have never belonged wholeheartedly to any country or state, to any of my circle of friends, or even to my own family. These ties have been accompanied by a vague aloofness, and the sin to withdraw into myself increases through the years.

Such isolation is sometimes bitter, but I do not regret being cut off from the understanding and the sympathy of other men. I lose something by it, to be sure, but I am compensated for it in being rendered independent of the customs, opinions, and prejudices of others, and am not tempted to rest my peace of mind upon such shifting foundations."