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41 " How did the cowardly disciples come by their sturdy faith after Jesus died? How did a man so ineffectual in this world, who had upset the dreams of his own disciples, come then to be divinized by these same disciples? These two questions forever entangle people who read the Bible, yet the biblical scholars, with their theories of form-criticism or of reductionism, hardly so much as allude to these questions. "
― Shūsaku Endō , A Life of Jesus
42 " The earth is not just for the clever and the strong. It must be possible even for weak and pitiful creatures — like himself and this old dog — to make some contribution in their lifetime. "
― Shūsaku Endō
43 " I do not believe that God has given us this trial to not purpose. I know that the day will come when we will clearly understand why this persecution with all it's sufferings has been bestowed upon us -- for everything that Our Lord does is for our good. And yet, even as I write these words I feel the oppressive weight in my heart of those last stammering words of Kichijiro in the morning of his departure: "Why has Deus Sama imposed this suffering on us?" and then the resentment in those eyes that he turned upon me. "Father", he had said "what evil have we done?"I suppose I should simply cast from my mind these meaningless words of the coward; yet why does his plaintive voice pierce my breast with tall the pain of a sharp needle? Why has Our Lord imposed this torture and this persecution on poor Japanese peasants? No, Kichijiro was trying to express something different, something even more sickening. The silence of God. Already twenty years have passed since the persecution broke out; the black soil of Japan has been filled with the lament of so many Christians; the red blood of priests has flowed profusely; the walls of churches have fallen down; and in the face of this terrible and merciless sacrifice offered up to Him, God has remained silent. "
― Shūsaku Endō , Silence
44 " What emotion had filled the breast of Christ when he ordered away the man who was to betray him for thirty pieces of silver. Was it anger? or resentment? Or did these words arise from his love? If it was anger, then at this instant Christ excluded from salvation this man alone of all the men in the world; and then our Lord allowed one man to fall into eternal damnation. But it could not be so. Christ wanted to save even Judas. If not, he would have never made him one of his disciples. And yet why did Christ not stop him when he began to slip from the path of righteousness? This was a problem I had not understood even as a seminarian......If it is not blasphemous to say so, I have the feeling that Judas was no more than the unfortunate puppet for the glory of that drama which was the life and death of Christ. "
45 " Ne mogu da podnesem monotoni zvuk sumornog mora, ćutanje Boga... saznanje da dok ljudi glasno pate - Bog ostaje skrštenih ruku, nem. "
46 " Lako je umreti za dobro i lepo; teško je umreti za bedno i pokvareno - to je ono što sam tada odjednom shvatio. "
47 " Sin, he reflected, is not what it is usually thought to be; it is not to steal and tell lies. Sin is for one man to walk brutally over the life of another and to be quite oblivious of the wounds he has left behind. "
48 " Trample! Trample! It is to be trampled on by you that I am here. "
49 " A person never knows their own true face. Everybody thinks that the phoney, posed social mask they wear is their real face. "
― Shūsaku Endō , Scandal
50 " The important thing in this life is to link your sadness to the sadness of others. "
― Shūsaku Endō , The Girl I Left Behind
51 " The smell of death was thick in the city of Vārāṇasī. And in Tokyo as well. And yet the birds blissfully sang their songs. "
― Shūsaku Endō , Deep River
52 " We'll shake, we'll shake the tree of dreams, That solitary tree of dreamsIn the centre of the verdant field. "
53 " Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might feel standing all alone on the surface of the moon. "
54 " When you sail, don'tPull up the anchor weeping.Be a man, do it laughing... "
― Shūsaku Endō , The Sea and Poison
55 " لقد جعلتني أمي وأنا في الثالثة عشرة من عمري أرتدي ملابس غريبة، لا تناسبني، ومنذ ذلك اليوم أحاول دونما نجاح أن أجعل من هذه الملابس كيمونو "
56 " When you were still here, Isobe thought, death seemed so far removed from me. It was as though you stood with both arms outstretched, keeping death from me. But now that you're gone, suddenly it seems right here in front of me. "
57 " I was only giving expression to a sad reflection that was rising in my mind. Kichijiro was right in saying that all men are not saints and heroes. How many of our Christians, if only they had been born in another age from this persecution would never have been confronted with the problem of apostasy or martyrdom but would have lived blessed lives of faith until the very hour of death. "
58 " ...but what grieved him most was his inability to love these people as Christ had loved them. "
59 " If I have trust in Catholicism, it is because I find in it much more possibility than in any other religion for presenting the full symphony of humanity. The other religions have almost no fullness; they have but solo parts. Only Catholicism can present the full symphony. And unless there is in that symphony a part that corresponds to Japan . . . it cannot be a true religion. "
60 " I tell you the truth - for a long, long time these farmers have worked like horses and cattle; and like horses and cattle they have died. The reason our religion has penetrated this territory like water flowing into dry earth is that it has given to this group of people a human warmth they never previously knew. For the first time they have met men who treated them like human beings. It was the human kindness and charity of the fathers that touched their hearts. "