Genzaburo Yoshino

Anime master Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite childhood book, in English for the first time. First published in 1937, Genzaburō Yoshino’s How Do You Live? has long been acknowledged in Japan as a crossover classic for young readers. Academy Award–winning animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle) has called it his favorite childhood book and announced plans to emerge from retirement to make it the basis of a final film. How Do You Live? is narrated in two voices. The first belongs to Copper, fifteen, who after the death of his father must confront inevitable and enormous change, including his own betrayal of his best friend. In between episodes of Copper’s emerging story, his uncle writes to him in a journal, sharing knowledge and offering advice on life’s big questions as Copper begins to encounter them. Over the course of the story, Copper, like his namesake Copernicus, looks to the stars, and uses his discoveries about the heavens, earth, and human nature to answer the question of how he will live. This first-ever English-language translation of a Japanese classic about finding one’s place in a world both infinitely large and unimaginably small is perfect for readers of philosophical fiction like The Alchemist and The Little Prince, as well as Miyazaki fans eager to understand one of his most important influences.

How Do You Live?

君たちはどう生きるか

Ana Robbinson

If it means anything at all to live in this world, it's that you must live your life like a true human being and and feel just what you feel.

To work from up there—no, even to be able to make the climb—you must not lose the spirit that woke you in the middle of the night, to follow your questions wherever they lead!

We have the power to decide on our own who we will be. Therefore, we will make mistakes.

We have the power to decide on our own who we will be. Therefore, we can also recover from mistakes.

taylor miles hopkins

You're correct. It's wrong for sure. We are all human beings, so if we can't all live a life that is really human, something is wrong, A society that doesn't allow that is wrong.

Still, for the sake of discovery, I think sometimes you have to live with being scolded by the teacher.

First, you might notice that the great people and heroes that loomed so large in your eyes until now were, ultimately, no more than drops of water drifting in that great stream.

And finally, there are times when one hero will do many things, some with the current and others against. In the course of history, many people arise and do many different things, but ultimately, if what they do is not consistent with the flow of that current, all the accomplishments off any one person will, finally and fleetingly, fall to ruin.

Bring back calling people old saws again!

If you think about it, there are sayings such as “Know thyself” and “Reflect upon your past” that we have heard over and over, ever since elementary school. They may feel a bit trite or old-fashioned, and when we hear them now, we may just think, Oh, that old saw again!

I can become a good person and create one good person for the world.

How Do You Live? quotes

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