Quotes by Haruki Murakami

I skipped the thirty-one years between 1938 and 1965 and jumped to the section entitled “Junitaki Today.” Of course, the book’s “today” being 1970, it was hardly today’s “today.” Still, writing the history of one town obviously imposed the necessity of bringing it up to a “today.” And even if such a today soon ceases to be today, no one can deny that it is in fact a today. For if a today ceased to be today, history could not exist as history.

One other thing I learned from working in a company was that the majority of people in the world have no problem following orders. Theyre actually happy to be told what to do. They might complain, but thats not how they really feel. They just grumble out of habit. If you told them to think for themselves, and make their own decisions and take responsibility for them, theyd be clueless.

Let your body work until it is spent, but keep your mind to yourself.

Not just beautiful, though--the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And theyre watching me.

Surfings a more profound kind of sport than it looks. When you surf, you learn not to fight the power of nature, even if it gets violent.

I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning.

Being with her I feel a pain, like a frozen knife stuck in my chest. An awful pain, but the funny thing is Im thankful for it. Its like that frozen pain and my very existence ar

Things like that happen all the time in this great big world of ours. It is like taking a boat out on a beautiful lake on a beautiful day and thinking both the sky and the lake are beautiful. Things will go where they are supposed to go if you just let them take their natural course. Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it is time for them to be hurt. Life is like that.

Losing you is most difficult for me, but the nature of my love for you is what matters. If it distorts into half-truth, then perhaps it is better not to love you. I must keep my mind but lose you.

As you are all aware, in the course of life we experience many kinds of pain. Pains of the body and pains of the heart. I know I have experienced pain in many different forms, and Im sure you have too. In most cases, though, Im sure youve found it very difficult to convey the truth of that pain to another person: to explain it in words. People say that only they themselves can understand the pain they are feeling. But is it true? I for one do not believe that it is. If, before our eyes, we see someone who is truly suffering, we do sometimes feel his suffering and pain as our own. This is the power of empathy. Am I making myself clear?He broke off and looked around the room once again.The reason that people sing songs for other people is because they want to have the power to arouse empathy, to break free of the narrow shell of the self and share their pain and joy with others. This is not an easy thing to do, of course. And so tonight, as a kind of experiment, I want you to experience a simpler, more physical kind of empathy. Lights please.Everyone in the place was hushed now, all eyes fixed on stage. Amid the silence, the man stared off into space, as if to insert a pause or to reach a state of mental concentration. Then, without a word, he held his hand over the lighted candle. Little by little, he brought the palm closer and closer to the flame. Someone in the audience made a sound like a sigh or a moan. You could see the tip of the flame burning the mans palm. You could almost hear the sizzle of the flesh. A woman let out a hard little scream. Everyone else just watched in frozen horror. The man endured the pain, his face distorted in agony. What the hell was this? Why did he have to do such a stupid, senseless thing? I felt my mouth going dry. After five or six seconds of this, he slowly removed his hand from the flame and set the dish with the candle in it on the floor. Then he clasped his hands together, the right and left palms pressed against each other.As you have seen tonight, ladies and gentleman, pain can actually burn a persons flesh, said the man. His voice sounded exactly as it had earlier: quiet, steady, cool. No trace of suffering remained on his face. Indeed, it had been replaced by a faint smile. And the pain that must have been there, you have been able to feel as if it were your own. That is the power of empathy.

As you are all aware, in the course of life we experience many kinds of pain. Pains of the body and pains of the heart. I know I have experienced pain in many different forms, and Im sure you have too. In most cases, though, Im sure youve found it very difficult to convey the truth of that pain to another person: to explain it in words. People say that only they themselves can understand the pain they are feeling. But is it true? I for one do not believe that it is. If, before our eyes, we see someone who is truly suffering, we do sometimes feel his suffering and pain as our own. This is the power of empathy. Am I making myself clear?He broke off and looked around the room once again.The reason that people sing songs for other people is because they want to have the power to arouse empathy, to break free of the narrow shell of the self and share their pain and joy with others. This is not an easy thing to do, of course. And so tonight, as kind of experiment, I want you to experience a simpler, more physical kind of empathy. Lights please.Everyone in the place was hushed now, all eyes fixed on stage. Amid the silence, the man stared off into space, as if to insert a pause or to reach a state of mental concentration. Then, without a word, he held his hand over the lighted candle. Little by little, he brought the palm closer and closer to the flame. Someone in the audience made a sound like a sigh or a moan. You could see the tip of the flame burning the mans palm. You could almost hear the sizzle of the flesh. A woman let out a hard little scream. Everyone else just watched in frozen horror. The man endured the pain, his face distorted in agony. What the hell was this? Why did he have to do such a stupid, senseless thing? I felt my mouth going dry. After five or six seconds of this, he slowly removed his hand from the flame and set the dish with the candle in it on the floor. Then he clasped his hands together, the right and left palms pressed against each other.As you have seen tonight, ladies and gentleman, pain can actually burn a persons flesh, said the man. His voice sounded exactly as it had earlier: quiet, steady, cool. No trace of suffering remained on his face. Indeed, it had been replaced by a faint smile. And the pain that must have been there, you have been able to feel as if it were your own. That is the power of empathy.

Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.

Shimamoto was in charge of the records. Shed take one from its jacket, place it carefully on the turntable without touching the grooves with her fingers, and, after making sure to brush the cartridge free of any dust with a tiny brush, lower the needle ever so gently onto the record. When the record was finished, shed spray it and wipe it with a felt cloth. Finally shed return the record to its jacket and its proper place on the shelf. Her father had taught her this procedure, and she followed his instructions with a terribly serious look on her face, her eyes narrowed, her breath held in check. Meanwhile, I was on the sofa, watching her every move. Only when the record was safely back on the shelf did she turn to me and give a little smile. And every time, this thought hit me: It wasnt a record she was handling. It was a fragile soul inside a glass bottle.

Opera lovers may be the narrowest people in the world.

Listen to this, Nimit. Follow Coleman Hawkins improvised lines very carefully. He is using them to tell us something. Pay very close attention. He is telling us the story of the free spirit that is doing everything it can to escape from within him. That same kind of spirit is inside me, inside you. There--you can hear it, Im sure: the hot breath, the shivering heart. (Thailand)

Rock and roll was my favorite, but before long I grew to enjoy Shinamotos brand of classical music. This was music from another world, which had its appeal, but more than that I loved it because she was a part of that world.

No, I dont want your money. The world moves less by money than by what you owe people and what they owe you. I dont like to owe anybody anything, so I keep to myself as much on the lending side as I can.

When you’re always scheming about ways to make money, it’s like a part of you is lost.

The heart apparently doesn’t stop that easily.

There is nothing in this world that never takes a step outside a persons heart.