#kami

An empty shell. Those were the first words that sprang to mind. .... Something incredibly important - .. - had disappeared from Miu for good. Leaving behind not life, but its absence ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#life

I wrote a huge number of letters that spring: one a week to Naoko, several to Reiko, and several more to Midori. I wrote letters in the classroom, I wrote letters at my desk at home with Seagull in my lap, I wrote letters at empty tables during my breaks at the Italian restaurant. It was as if I were writing letters to hold together the pieces of my crumbling life. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#norwegian-wood #life

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. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#life #sex #life

But if you knew you might not be able to see it again tomorrow, everything would suddenly become special and precious, wouldn’t it? ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#murakami #life

No sooner had one season slipped out the door than the next came in by another door. A person might scramble to the closing door and call out, Hey, wait a minute, there’s one last thing I forgot to tell you. But nobody would be there any more. The door shuts tight. Already another season is in the room, sitting in a chair, striking a match to light a cigarette. Anything you forgot to mention, the stranger says, you might as well go ahead and tell me, and if it works out, I’ll get the message through. Nah, it’s okay, you say, it was nothing really. And all around, the sound of the wind. Nothing, really. A season’s died, that’s all. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#murakami #life

Some are born virtuous, some become virtuous. To be good by nature is indeed fortunate but to become good is like walking on a double-edged sword; it takes a longer time and is more painful. ↗

— Umera Ahmed

#islam #pain #peer-e-kamil #spiritual #sword

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. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#interview #job #judgement #observation #paris-review

Hey, what is it with you? Why are you so spaced out? You still haven't answered me." I probably still haven't completely adapted to the world," I said after giving it some thought. "I don't know, I feel like this isn't the real world. The people, the scene: they just don't seem real to me." Midori rested an elbow on the bar and looked at me. "There was something like that in a Jim Morrison song, I'm pretty sure." People are strange when you're a stranger. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#norwegian-wood #space

I'd be smiling and chatting away, and my mind would be floating around somewhere else, like a balloon with a broken string. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#haruki-murakami #may-kasahara #the-wind-up-bird-chronicle #birds

Every once in a while she'll get worked up and cry like that. But that's ok. She's letting her feelings out. The scary thing is not being able to do that. Then your feelings build up and harden and die inside. That's when you're in big trouble. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#japan #murakami #norwegian-wook #japan