"I didn't want to be a writer, but I became one. And now I have many readers, in many countries. I think that's a miracle. So I think I have to be humble regarding this ability. I'm proud of it and I enjoy it, and it is strange to say it this way, but I respect it."

- Haruki Murakami

"There are always far more people in the world who make things worse, rather than help out."

"Hope, however, is limited, and generally abstract, while there are countless trials, and they tend to be concrete."

"Nobody hated paying taxes more than the rich."

▲▲▲ 1Q84

"It’s a tough world."

▲▲▲

"Somerset Maugham once wrote that in each shave lies a philosophy. I couldn’t agree more. No matter how mundane some action might appear, keep at it long enough and it becomes a contemplative, even meditative act."

▲▲▲ What I talk about when I talk about running

"Sometimes I get real lonely sleeping with you."

▲▲▲ Haruki Murakami (A Wild Sheep Chase)

"Love can rebuild the world, they say, so everything’s possible when it comes to love."

▲▲▲ Kafka on the Shore

"People need things like that to go on living—mental landscapes that have meaning for them, even if they can’t explain them in words. Part of why we live is to come up with explanations for these things."

▲▲▲ 1Q84

"If you don’t believe in the world,
and if there is no love in it,
then everything is phony."

"Good and evil are not fixed, stable entities but are continually trading places. A good may be transformed into an evil in the next second. And vice versa."

"Knowledge is a precious social asset."

"Unfortunately, however, sheer talent is not enough.
….Possessing an outstanding talent that is not sufficient may be more dangerous than possessing nothing at all."

"He does not exist here, with me,
but flesh that does not exist will never die,
and promises unmade are never broken."