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)
Nobody wants to be left alone. We all want to be loved.
The world is a complex place, and not everything in it is black and white.
What we see before us is just one tiny part of the world. We perceive only a small fraction of the things that actually exist.
I'm not a machine. I'm a human being. I have feelings.
Memory is a funny thing. It can make you laugh, it can make you cry, it can make you remember things that never happened.
The most important thing is to be yourself. Don't let anyone tell you who you are or what you should be.
Sometimes, when you're in a dark place, you think you've been buried, but you've actually been planted.
I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.
We're all just a bunch of people looking for something to believe in.
The world is full of things that can't be explained.
What is important is to keep learning, to keep challenging yourself, and to keep growing.
Every time you make a choice, you're choosing to be a different person.
I think that's what love is. It's not about finding the perfect person, it's about finding the person who makes you feel perfect.
Dreams are like rivers. They flow in and out of our lives, sometimes gently, sometimes with a roar.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
We are all connected, like threads in a tapestry. What happens to one of us affects all of us.
Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.
Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to just let it go.
The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters.
Every person has a story to tell. And every story is worth hearing.
Contemporaries of Haruki Murakami
Other Literatures born within 50 years of Haruki Murakami (1949).