Top 40 Naoki Higashida Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “But when I’m jumping, it’s as if my feelings are going upward to the sky. Really, my urge to be swallowed up by the sky is enough to make my heart quiver. When I’m jumping, I can feel my body parts really well, too – my bounding legs and my clapping hands – and that makes me feel so, so good.”

— Naoki Higashida

2. “Everybody has a heart that can be touched by something.”

— Naoki Higashida

3. “On our own we simply don’t know how to get things done the same way you do things. But, like everyone else, we want to do the best we possibly can. When we sense you’ve given up on us, it makes us feel miserable. So please keep helping us, through to the end.”

— Naoki Higashida

4. “When you see an object, it seems that you see it as an entire thing first, and only afterwards do its details follow on. But for people with autism, the details jump straight out at us first of all, and then only gradually, detail by detail, does the whole image float up into focus.”

— Naoki Higashida

5. “Just by looking at nature, I feel as if I’m being swallowed up into it, and in that moment I get the sensation that my body’s now a speck, a speck from long before I was born, a speck that is melting into nature herself.”

— Naoki Higashida

6. “Normal people think we’re highly dependent and can’t live without ongoing support, but in fact there are times when we’re stoic heroes.”

— Naoki Higashida

7. “We get swallowed up by the illusion that unless we can find a place to belong, we are going to be all alone in the world.”

— Naoki Higashida

8. “Can you imagine how your life would be if you couldn’t talk?”

— Naoki Higashida

9. “The thought that our lives are the source of other people’s unhappiness, that’s plain unbearable.”

— Naoki Higashida

10. “Happiness that comes at someone else’s expense isn’t happiness – especially if that someone else is precious to you.”

— Naoki Higashida

11. “The neurotypical public needs to know that the failure of people with autism to communicate doesn’t stem from inner self-imprisonment: it stems from a failure of others to see that we are open and receptive. To venture out into the world requires help from other people.”

— Naoki Higashida

12. “Children with disabilities might, to your eyes, look stuck in a perpetual childhood, but our thoughts and sensibilities evolve constantly. So, using vocabulary the child understands, please show them how they can live their lives to the full.”

— Naoki Higashida

13. “The greenness of nature is the lives of plants and trees. Green is life. And that’s the reason we love to go out for walks.”

— Naoki Higashida

14. “There are reasons why people with autism exist in the world, I believe. Those who are determined to live with us and not give up on us are deeply compassionate people, and this kind of compassion must be a key to humanity’s long-term survival.”

— Naoki Higashida

15. “There’s no need to feel any shame just because your “fullest” and “best” look different from those of others.”

— Naoki Higashida

16. “I’ve learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal – so we can’t know for sure what your “normal” is even like.”

— Naoki Higashida

17. “If I tried to describe what it’s like to be nonverbal in the World of the Verbal in a single word, I’d choose this one: agony. And yet, this is also true: if we know there is even a single person who understands what it’s like for us, that’s solace enough to give us hope.”

— Naoki Higashida

18. “For people with autism, living itself is a battle.”

— Naoki Higashida

19. “I don’t think we’ll ever be able to reach our Shangri-La, however. I know it exists only in the depths of the forest or at the bottom of the deep blue sea.”

— Naoki Higashida

20. “Education is supposed to help the child and parents: it mustn’t end up being a kind of holding cell. For this reason, our education must not be overly defined by the views of outsiders, or be unquestioningly compliant with the values and beliefs of specialists. Of paramount importance is that the special needs education be a suitable fit for each and every student.”

— Naoki Higashida

21. “True compassion is about not bruising the other person’s self-respect.”

— Naoki Higashida

22. “You can’t always tell just by looking at people with autism, but we never really feel that our bodies are our own. They’re always acting up and going outside our control. Stuck inside them, we’re struggling to make them do what we tell them.”

— Naoki Higashida

23. “I love nature, I have an interest in letters and numbers, and I’m fascinated by some things that other people have no interest in whatsoever. If these fascinations are rooted in my autistically wired brain and if neurotypical people are unable to access these wonders, then I have to say that the immutable beauties of autism are such that I count myself lucky to be born with the condition.”

— Naoki Higashida

24. “All human beings have their hardships to bear, so never swerve away from the path you’re on.”

— Naoki Higashida

25. “What brought you here isn’t your fault. We human beings have to live each day to its fullest and do our best in whatever environment we find ourselves in. There’s no need to feel any shame just because your “fullest” and “best” look different from those of others.”

— Naoki Higashida

26. “Criticizing people, winding them up, making idiots of them or fooling them doesn’t make people with autism laugh. What makes us smile from the inside is seeing something beautiful, or a memory makes us laugh. This generally happens when there’s nobody watching us. And at night, on our own, we might burst out laughing underneath the duvet, or roar with later in an empty room... When we don’t need to think about other people or anything else, that’s when we wear our aural expressions.”

— Naoki Higashida

27. “The more frantic and desperate I become, the more I punch myself: by now, it’s no longer about punishing my brain, it’s about punishing myself for having lost the plot so woefully. If, however, people don’t flip out at the sight of me and understand next time you see someone like me in mid-meltdown, I’d ask you to conduct yourself with this knowledge.”

— Naoki Higashida

28. “A person who’s looking at a mountain far away doesn’t notice the prettiness of a dandelion in front of them. A person who’s looking at a dandelion in front of them doesn’t see the beauty of a mountain far away.”

— Naoki Higashida

29. “When there’s a gap between what I’m thinking and what I’m saying, it’s because the words coming out of my mouth are the only ones I can access at that time.”

— Naoki Higashida

30. “Firing the question back is a way of sifting through our memories to pick up clues about what the questioner is asking. We understand the question okay, but we can’t answer it until we fish out the right “memory picture” in our heads.”

— Naoki Higashida

31. “What I wish to say is this: the value of a person shouldn’t be fixed solely by his or her skills and talents – or lack of them. It’s how you strive to live well that allows others to understand your awesomeness as a human being. This miraculous quality touches people. Via this “how,” people consider the sanctity and validity of everyone’s life, whether special needs are involved or not.”

— Naoki Higashida

32. “People with autism might need more time, but as we grow there are countless things that we can learn how to do, so even if you can’t see your efforts bear fruit, please don’t quit. Our lives are still ahead of us. Some kinds of success can be won by, and only by, sheer effort and sweat. We all have to bear in mind that adulthood lasts a lot longer than childhood.”

— Naoki Higashida

33. “Yes, raising a child with autism can be highly demanding, but please remember, just as you worry about your child, so your child worries about you.”

— Naoki Higashida

34. “There are times when all goes well, when I compose a sentence and stand back just to enjoy it. This sensation is like admiring a tall building I’ve designed. With luck, the building has no wasteful elements and every detail is noted and works. It blends in with the surrounding scenery and looks as if it was always meant to be here. These are the buildings I aim to construct.”

— Naoki Higashida

35. “The value of a person shouldn’t be decided by the judgements of other people. Kindness brings out the best in us all.”

— Naoki Higashida

36. “Whenever I overhear someone remark how much I prefer being on my own, it makes me feel desperately lonely. It’s as if they’re deliberately giving me the cold-shoulder treatment.”

— Naoki Higashida

37. “Any given therapy method might well work to some degree for some people with autism, but no approach will work across the board for every person with the condition.”

— Naoki Higashida

38. “You must be thinking: “Is he never going to learn?” We know we’re making you sad and upset, but it’s as if we don’t have any say in it, I’m afraid, and that’s the way it is.”

— Naoki Higashida

39. “I would like people to stop pressuring children to make friends. Friendships can’t be artificially created.”

— Naoki Higashida

40. “On the surface, a sheltered life spent on your favourite activities might look like paradise but I believe that unless you come into contact with some of the hardships other people endure, your own personal development will be impaired.”

— Naoki Higashida

41. “The three characters used for the word “autism” in Japanese signify “self,” “shut” and “illness.” My imagination converts these characters into a prisoner locked up and forgotten inside a solitary confinement cell waiting for someone, anyone, to realize he or she is in there. The Reason I Jump knocks out a brick in the wall.”

— Naoki Higashida

42. “When boundaries of behavior are set, it’s crucial to respect those boundaries, but it’s doubly crucial that the boundaries are appropriate and realistic for the person and context in the first place.”

— Naoki Higashida

43. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no need whatsoever to “practice being bullied.” Acquiring superpowers of endurance is not something children need to be learning before they enter society at large. It is only the person being bullied who understands the true cost of what they suffer. People with no experience of being bullied have no idea how miserable it is to grow up being picked on the whole time.”

— Naoki Higashida

44. “The best reaction to our mistakes will vary from person to person, and according to his or her age, but please remember: for people with autism, the pain of being unable to do what we’d like to is already hard to live with. Pain arising from other people’s reactions to our mistakes can break our hearts.”

— Naoki Higashida

45. “My point: please don’t think that by not pushing someone toward a goal or by not stretching their abilities, you’re automatically making it easier for them to arrive. Life isn’t that great for turtles, and plodding along tortoise-like is no picnic either.”

— Naoki Higashida

46. “What kept me hammering away at it was the thought that to live my life as a human being, nothing is more important than being able to express myself.”

— Naoki Higashida

47. “Traveling with people who have special needs might present difficulties, but please, let it happen. We all need a break and a change of scene sometimes. This is as true for us as it is for you.”

— Naoki Higashida