Quotes

Others

I'm the one who should be ashamed. I don't understand my own soul.

Dialogue

Commoner: But is there anyone who's really good? Maybe goodness is just make-believe. Priest: What a frightening... Commoner: Man just wants to forget the bad stuff, and believe in the made-up good stuff. It's easier that way.

Dialogue

Priest: If men don't trust each other, this Earth might as well be hell. Commoner: Right. The world's a kind of hell. Priest: No! I don't want to believe that! Commoner: No one will hear you, no matter how loud you shout. Just think. Which one of these stories do you believe? Woodcutter: None makes any sense. Commoner: In the end, you cannot understand the things men do.

Dialogue

Priest: I don't want to hear it. No more horror stories. Commoner: They are common stories these days. I even heard that the demon living here in Rashômon fled in fear of the ferocity of man.

Dialogue

Priest: A man's been murdered. Commoner: So what? Only one? Why, up on top of this gate, there's always five or six bodies. No one worries about them.

Dialogue

Woodcutter: It's a lie. It's all a lie. Tajômaru's story and the woman's. Commoner: It's human nature to lie. Most of the time we can't even be honest with ourselves. Priest: That may be. But it's because men are weak that they lie, even to themselves. Commoner: Not another sermon. I don't care if it's a lie, as long as it's entertaining. What story did the woman come up with? Priest: Well, it's completely different from Tajômaru's story. So different that her face didn't even show the fierceness he spoke of. She was so docile, she was almost pitiful.

Dialogue

Woodcutter: Selfish! Commoner: What's wrong with that? That's the way we are, the way we live. You just can't live unless you're what you call selfish. Woodcutter: Damn it. Everyone is selfish and dishonest. Making excuses. The bandit, the woman, the man, and you!