Haruki Murakami
Japan's most internationally acclaimed living novelist
Most quoted
"Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts itself to your movement. Again and again. Until at last, you and the storm stop trying to outrun each other. This is because the storm isn't something that has nothing to do with you, something that's blowing from far away. The storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step."
— from Kafka on the Shore, 2002
"Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step."
— from Kafka on the Shore, 2002
"Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Again and again you play this game, like a hapless dancer with Death. Because the storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step."
— from Kafka on the Shore, 2002
All quotes by Haruki Murakami (395)
I'm not a fan of life. I prefer to exist.
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.
I'm not a fan of death. I prefer to live forever.
The world is a mystery, and we are all detectives.
I'm not a fan of answers. I prefer to ask questions.
The world is a puzzle, and we are all trying to solve it.
I'm not a fan of certainty. I prefer to embrace uncertainty.
The world is a song, and we are all dancing to it.
I'm not a fan of endings. I prefer to keep going.
The world is a mirror, and we are all reflections.
Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.
And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of it.
Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?
What happens when people open their hearts? They get better.
Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back. That's part of what it means to be alive.
Chance encounters are what keep us going.
Unclose your mind. You are not a prisoner. You are a bird in flight, searching the skies for dreams.
Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You open your eyes and legs and start to run, but then it's in front of you again.
I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.
Contemporaries of Haruki Murakami
Other Literatures born within 50 years of Haruki Murakami (1949).