To be able to talk to your heart’s content about a book you like with someone who feels the same way about it is one of the greatest joys that life can offer. Haruki Murakami More Quotes by Haruki Murakami More Quotes From Haruki Murakami There are three ways you can get along with a girl: one, shut up and listen to what she has to say; two, tell her you like what she's wearing; and three, treat her to really good food...If you do all that and still don't get the results you want, better give up. Haruki Murakami giving-up girl two In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be. Haruki Murakami distance running long How can the mind be so imperfect?" she says with a smile. I look at my hands. Bathed in the moonlight, they seem like statues, proportioned to no purpose. "It may well be imperfect," I say, "but it leaves traces. And we can follow those traces, like footsteps in the snow." "Where do the lead?" "To oneself," I answer. "That's where the mind is. Without the mind, nothing leads anywhere." I look up. The winter moon is brilliant, over the Town, above the Wall. "Not one thing is your fault," I comfort her. Haruki Murakami wall moon winter The world is an inherently unfair place. Haruki Murakami unfair world A deserted library in the morning - there's something about it that really gets to me. All possible words and ideas are there, resting peacefully. Haruki Murakami rest-in-peace inspiring morning An unhealthy soul requires a healthy body. Haruki Murakami healthy body soul But even so, every now and then I would feel a violent stab of loneliness. The very water I drink, the very air I breathe, would feel like long, sharp needles. The pages of a book in my hands would take on the threatening metallic gleam of razor blades. I could hear the roots of loneliness creeping through me when the world was hushed at four o'clock in the morning. Haruki Murakami loneliness morning book It’s pretty thin, the wall separating healthy confidence and unhealthy Pride. Haruki Murakami wall healthy pride The sky grew darker, painted blue on blue, one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night. Haruki Murakami sky blue night I didn't want to be a writer, but I became one. And now I have many readers, in many countries. I think that's a miracle. So I think I have to be humble regarding this ability. I'm proud of it and I enjoy it, and it is strange to say it this way, but I respect it. Haruki Murakami humble writing country Holding this soft, small living creature in my lap this way, though, and seeing how it slept with complete trust in me, I felt a warm rush in my chest. I put my hand on the cat's chest and felt his heart beating. The pulse was faint and fast, but his heart, like mine, was ticking off the time allotted to his small body with all the restless earnestness of my own. Haruki Murakami cat heart hands "I guess I've been waiting so long I'm looking for perfection. That makes it tough." Haruki Murakami perfect running long Wasn't it better if they kept this desire to see each other hidden within them, and never actually got together? That way, there would always be hope in their hearts. That hope would be a small, yet vital flame that warmed them to their core-- a tiny flame to cup one's hands around and protect from the wind, a flame that the violent winds of reality might easily extinguish. Haruki Murakami flames heart reality I was feeling lonely without her, but the fact that I could feel lonely at all was consolation. Loneliness wasn't such a bad feeling. It was like the stillness of the pin oak after the little birds had flown off. Haruki Murakami lonely loneliness bird A friend to kill time is a friend sublime. Haruki Murakami sublime You end up exhausted and spent, but later, in retrospect, you realize what it all was for. The parts fall into place, and you can see the whole picture and finally understand the role each individual part plays. The dawn comes, the sky grows light, and the colors and shapes of the roofs of houses, which you could only glimpse vaguely before, come into focus. Haruki Murakami color light fall What the world needs is a set villain that people can point at and say, “It’s all your fault! Haruki Murakami people world needs Between the time the last train leaves and the first train arrives, the place changes: it's not the same as in daytime. Haruki Murakami daytime lasts firsts What a terrible thing it is to wound someone you really care for and to do it so unconsciously. Haruki Murakami norwegian-wood terrible care Can'ttrustpeople. Won'tdoanygood. They'llkillyoueverytime. They'llkilleachother. They'llkilleveryone. Haruki Murakami