Hateful things and other things {by Sei Shonagon}

• A man who has nothing in particular to recommend discusses all sorts of subjects at random as though he knew everything.
• To envy others and to complain about one's own lot; to speak badly about people; to be inquisitive about the most trivial matters and to resent and abuse people for not telling one, oh how hateful!
• One is in the middle of a story when someone butts in and tries to show that he is the only clever person in the room. Such a person is hateful, and so indeed, is anyone who tries to push himself forward.
• When one has stopped loving somebody, one feels that he has become someone else, even though he is still the same person.
• One has a carefully scented robe and then forgotten about it for several days. When finally one comes to wear it, the aroma is even more delicious than on freshly scented clothes.
• When crossing a river in bright moonlight, I love to see the water scatter in showers of crystal under the oxen's feet.