Quotes by Haruki Murakami

I think that my job is to observe people and the world, and not to judge them. I always hope to position myself away from so-called conclusions. I would like to leave everything wide open to all the possibilities in the world.

Canttrustpeople. Wontdoanygood. Theyllkillyoueverytime. Theyllkilleachother. Theyllkilleveryone.

People lose fifty million skin cells every day. The cells get scraped off and turn into invisible dust, and disappear into the air. Maybe we are nothing but skin cells as far as the world is concerned.

Don’t you see? You and he might never cross paths again. Of course, a chance meeting could occur, and I hope it happens. I really do, for your sake. But realistically speaking, you have to see there’s a huge possibility you’ll never be able to meet him again. And even if you do meet, he might already be married to somebody else. He might have two kids. Isn’t that so? And in that case, you may have to live the rest of your life alone, never being joined with the one person you love in all the world. Don’t you find that scary?

I all of a sudden got to feeling like talking to people. Whenever I look at the ocean, I always want to talk to people, but when I’m talking to people, I always want to look at the ocean. I’m weird like that.

Listen up - theres no war that will end all wars.

I dream. Sometimes I think thats the only right thing to do.

The answer is dreams. Dreaming on and on. Entering the world of dreams and never coming out. Living in dreams for the rest of time.

In dreams you dont need to make any distinctions between things. Not at all. Boundaries dont exist. So in dreams there are hardly ever collisions. Even if there are, they dont hurt. Reality is different. Reality bites. Reality, reality.

Dreams come from the past, not from the future. Dreams shouldnt control you--you should control them.

In dreams begins responsiblities.

There are symbolic dreams-- dreams that symbolize some reality. Then there are symbolic realities -- realities that symbolize a dream. Symbols are what you might call the honorary town councillors of the worm universe. In the worm universe, there is nothing unusual about a dairy cow seeking a pair of pliers. A cow is bound to get her pliers sometime. It has nothing to do with me.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. But it was not until much later that I was able to get any real sleep. In a place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment.

Dont tell me anymore. You should have your dream, as the old woman told you to. I understand how you feel, but if you put those feelings into words they will turn into lies. (from Thailand)

Have your dream...What you need now more than anything is discipline. Cast off mere words. Words turn into stone. (from Thailand)

If only I could fallsound asleep and wake up in my old reality!

I have these realistic dreams and snap wide awake in the middle of the night. And for a while I cant work out whats real and what isnt... That kind of feeling. Do you have any idea what Im saying?

Its all a question of imagination. Our responsibility begins with the power to imagine.

Strictly speaking, it might not be a dream. It was reality, but a reality imbued with all the qualities of a dream. A different sphere of reality, where - at a special time and place - imagination had been set free.

Now for a good twelve-hour sleep, I told myself. Twelve solid hours. Let birds sing, let people go to work. Somewhere out there, a volcano might blow, Israeli commandos might decimate a Palestinian village. I couldnt stop it. I was going to sleep.