Quotes by Haruki Murakami

Once you’re lost, you panic. You’re in total despair, not knowing what to do. I hate it when that happens. Sex can be a real pain that way, ‘cause when you get in the mood all you can think about is what’s right under your nose - that’s sex, all right.

Its a funny thing sensing someone elses sex drive. After a while, you get to mistaking it for your own.

Sex with a married woman ten years his senior was stress free and fulfilling, because it couldnt lead to anything

Many are the women who can take their clothes off seductively, but women who can charm as they dress?

Adults constantly raise the bar on smart children, precisely because theyre able to handle it. The children get overwhelmed by the tasks in front of them and gradually lose the sort of openness and sense of accomplishment they innately have. When theyre treated like that, children start to crawl inside a shell and keep everything inside. It takes a lot of time and effort to get them to open up again. Kids hearts are malleable, but once they gel its hard to get them back the way they were.

The music world is where child prodigies go to die.

Your heart is like a great river after a long spell of rain, spilling over its banks. All signposts that once stood on the ground are gone, inundated and carried away by that rush of water. And still the rain beats down on the surface of the river. Every time you see a flood like that on the news you tell yourself: That’s it. That’s my heart.

It was a strange feeling, like touching a void.

In the end, like so many beautiful promises in our lives, that dinner date never came to be.

Exactly. When is comes to anything halfway important, you just dont get it. Its amazing to me that you can put a piece of fiction togetherYeah, well, thats a whole different thing.(from Honey Pie)

Memory is like fiction: or else its fiction thats like memory.

Memory is like fiction: or else it fiction thats like memory.

The new day is almost here, but the old one is still dragging its heavy skirts. Just as ocean water and river water struggle against each other at a river mouth, the old time and the new time clash and blend.

Next she turned the gun upward and thrust the muzzle into her mouth. Now it was aimed directly at her cerebrum-- the gray labyrinth where consciousness resided.

It was as if - this something I thought of only later, of course - she was gently peeling back one layer after another that covered a persons heart, a very sensual feeling.

There are some things in this world that can be done over, and some that cant. And time passing is one thing that cant be redone. Come this tar, and you cant come back.

There are some things in this world that can be done over, and some that cant. And time passing is one thing that cant be undone. Come this far, and you cant go back.

It was as if-this is something I thought of only later, of course-she was gently peeling bcd one layer after another hat covered a persons heart, a very sensual feeling.

It was as if - this something I thought of only later, of course - she were gently peeling back one layer after another that covered a persons heart, a very sensual feeling.

The woman glares at him and, after taking a breath, forges on. One other issue Id like to raise is how you have authors here separated by sex.Yes, thats right. The person who was in charge before us cataloged these and for whatever reason divided them into male and female. We were thinking of recataloging all of them, but havent been able to as of yet.Were not criticizing you for this, she says.Oshima tilts his head slightly.The problem, though, is that in all categories male authors are listed before female authors, she says. To our way of thinking this violates the principle of sexual equality and is totally unfair.Oshima picks up her business card again, runs his eyes over it, then lays it back down on the counter. Ms. Soga, he begins, when they called the role in school your name would have come before Ms. Tanaka, and after Ms. Sekine. Did you file a complaint about that? Did you object, asking them to reverse the order? Does G get angry because it follows F in the alphabet? Does page 68 in a book start a revolution just because it follows 67?Thats not the point, she says angrily. Youre intentionally trying to confuse the issue.Hearing this, the shorter woman, whod been standing in front of a stack taking notes, races over.Intentionally trying to confuse the issue, Oshima repeats, like hes underlining the womans words.Are you denying it?Thats a red herring, Oshima replies.The woman named Soga stands there, mouth slightly ajar, not saying a word.In English theres this expression red herring. Something thats very interesting but leads you astray from the main topic. Im afraid I havent looked into why they use that kind of expression, though.Herrings or mackerel or whatever, youre dodging the issue.Actually what Im doing is shifting the analogy, Oshima says. One of the most effective methods of argument, according to Aristotle. The citizens of ancient Athens enjoyed using this kind of intellectual trick very much. Its a shame, though, that at the time women werent included in the definition of citizen.Are you making fun of us?Oshima shakes his head. Look, what Im trying to get across is this: Im sure there are many more effective ways of making sure that Japanese womens rights are guaranteed than sniffing around a small library in a little town and complaining about the restrooms and the card catalog. Were doing our level best to see that this modest library of ours helps the community. Weve assembled an outstanding collection for people who love books. And we do our utmost to put a human face on all our dealings with the public. You might not be aware of it, but this librarys collection of poetry-related material from the 1910s to the mid-Showa period is nationally recognized. Of course there are things we could do better, and limits to what we can accomplish. But rest assured were doing our very best. I think itd be a whole lot better if you focus on what we do well than what were unable to do. Isnt that what you call fair?