“The virtue and beauty of human beings is to live naturally, ungoverned by external forces.”

— Kaneko Fumiko, Because I Wanted To (1923-5)

About Kaneko Fumiko

1903 – 1926

Japanese anarchist and writer whose prison memoirs were published after her death.

“Let your children play as they please! To play freely on this earth is the one privilege nature has given to children.”

“By nature human beings should be equal.”

“Everyone being human, they must all be equal.”

“Art is long, life short, judgment difficult, opportunity transient.”

“I know of nothing useful in life except what is beautiful or creates beauty.”

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.”

“The great moral teachers of humanity were, in a way, artistic geniuses in the art of living.”

“At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint or even remember it.”

“Life is earnest, art is gay.”