Starting Point//Hayao Miyazaki
“We see birds that harm humans as harmful and those that are useful to humans as useful. It’s all arbitrary. The impression we have of a landscape changes depending on the emotions of the person viewing the landscape. Nature that is generous is, at the same time, nature that is ferocious. That is why humans feel humbled in the face of nature and why they are able to realize its true abundance.”
“To be able to fly through the air means to be liberated from the ground, but liberation can also create insecurity and loneliness.”
“In our own era, human selfishness is leading to the extinctions of other species. I personally don’t believe this earth can support ten billion people. So when we consider how to bridge this reality and our own daily lives, it might seem that the easiest thing would be to join a movement and declare, “You’re bad, they’re bad, he’s bad, and I’m right.” But this would not resolve anything. The solution is not some vague notion that nature benefits people or that without nature Japan will disintegrate. Civility has to be the foundation of everything: If we have troubles let us share them. Let us share what we humans have with other living beings, and share what we as individuals have with others.”
"I think everyone has this kind of experience; we human beings do many stupid things. So I don't think we can negate them as being bad or wrong. But they aren't things we should continually do, either. It would be best if we didn't have to do them. We've all done things that make us want to shout in mortification when we recall them years later in the middle of the night, but we have to go on doing these things."
“To be able to fly through the air means to be liberated from the ground, but liberation can also create insecurity and loneliness.”
“In our own era, human selfishness is leading to the extinctions of other species. I personally don’t believe this earth can support ten billion people. So when we consider how to bridge this reality and our own daily lives, it might seem that the easiest thing would be to join a movement and declare, “You’re bad, they’re bad, he’s bad, and I’m right.” But this would not resolve anything. The solution is not some vague notion that nature benefits people or that without nature Japan will disintegrate. Civility has to be the foundation of everything: If we have troubles let us share them. Let us share what we humans have with other living beings, and share what we as individuals have with others.”
"I think everyone has this kind of experience; we human beings do many stupid things. So I don't think we can negate them as being bad or wrong. But they aren't things we should continually do, either. It would be best if we didn't have to do them. We've all done things that make us want to shout in mortification when we recall them years later in the middle of the night, but we have to go on doing these things."