Sei Shōnagon said this quote

In life there are two things which are dependable. The pleasures of the flesh and the pleasures of literature.

~ Sei Shōnagon

Pleasing things: finding a large number of tales that one has not read before. Or acquiring the second volume of a tale whose first volume one has enjoyed. But often it is a disappointment.

~ Sei Shōnagon

Sometimes a person who is utterly devoid of charm will try to create a good impression by using very elegant language, yet he only succeeds in being ridiculous.

~ Sei Shōnagon

I do wish men, when they're taking their leave from a lady at dawn, wouldn't insist on adjusting their clothes to a nicety, or fussily tying their lacquered cap securely into place. After all, who would laugh at a man or criticize him if they happened to catch sight of him on his way home from an assignation in fearful disarray, with his cloak or hunting costume all awry?

~ Sei Shōnagon