Rashomon (1950)

Minoru Chiaki: Priest

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Quotes 

• 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.

• 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.

• Priest : It's horrifying. If men don't trust each other, this earth might as well be hell.

  Commoner : That's right. The world's a kind of hell.

  Priest : No! I believe in men. I don't want this place to be hell.

  Commoner : Shouting doesn't help. Think about it. Out of these three, whose story is believable?

  Woodcutter : No idea.

  Commoner : In the end, you cannot understand the things men do.

• Commoner : Well, men are only men. That's why they lie. They can't tell the truth, even to themselves.

  Priest : That may be true. Because men are weak, they lie to deceive themselves.

  Commoner : Not another sermon! I don't mind a lie if it's interesting.

• Priest : Dead men tell no lies.

• Priest : A human life is truly as frail and fleeting as the morning dew.

• Priest : War, earthquake, winds, fire, famine, the plague. Year after year, it's been nothing but disasters. And bandits descend upon us every night. I've seen so many men getting killed like insects, but even I have never heard a story as horrible as this. Yes. So horrible. This time, I may finally lose my faith in the human soul. It's worse than worse than bandits, the plague, famine, fire or wars.

• 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.

• 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.