TOPICS
SPEAKERS
HOME
BROWSE TOPICS
BROWSE SPEAKERS
◀ BACK

Haruki Murakami

Other
1
2
3
4
And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
It's easy to forget things you don't need anymore.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
All through high school and college, his judo coach and older teammates would often say to him, "You have the talent and the strength, and you practice enough, but you just don't have the desire." They were probably right. He lacked that drive to win at all costs, which is why he would often make it to the semifinals and the finals but lose the all-important championship match.
From 1Q84
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Sports
Life, after all, was a long, drawn-out struggle. No matter how much sadness there was, how much loss and despair awaited us, you had to steadily move forward, step by painful step.
From The City and Its Uncertain Walls
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it's time for them to be hurt.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
Everything has boundaries. The same holds true with thought. You shouldn't fear boundaries, but you should not be afraid of destroying them. That's what is most important if you want to be free: respect for and exasperation with boundaries.
From Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
I’ve never once thought about how I was going to die,” she said. “I can’t think about it. I don’t even know how I’m going to live.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death, Life
Those were strange days, now that I look back at them. In the midst of life, everything revolved around death.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death, Life
It's unfair."
As a rule, life is unfair," I said.
Yeah, but I think I did say some awful things."
To Dick?"
Yeah."
I pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road and turned off the ignition. "That's just stupid, that kind of thinking," I said, nailing her with my eyes. "Instead of regretting what you did, you could have treated him decently from the beginning. You could've tried to be fair. But you didn't. You don't even have the right to be sorry.
From Dance Dance Dance
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
When someone is trying very hard to get something, they don't. And when they're running away from something as hard as they can, it usually catches up with them.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
If all those things -- trust, respect, etiquette -- stop functioning, the rules clash and the game breaks down.
From Killing Commendatore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
A revelation leaps over the borders of the everyday. A life without revelation is no life at all. What you need to do is move from reason that ‘observes’ to reason that ‘acts’. That’s what critical.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
In his or her own way, everyone I saw before me looked happy. Whether they were really happy or just looked it, I couldn't tell. But they did look happy on this pleasant early afternoon in late September, and because of that I felt a kind of loneliness new to me, as if I were the only one here who was not truly part of the scene.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
This is what it means to live on. When granted hope, a person uses it as fuel, as a guidepost to life. It is impossible to live without hope.
From 1Q84
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back. That's part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads - at least that's where I imagine it - there's a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in awhile, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you'll live forever in your own private library.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
In everybody’s life there’s a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can’t go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That’s how we survive.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
Life is here, death is over there. I am here, not over there.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Suicides? Heart attacks? The papers didn't seem interested. The world was full of ways to die, too many to cover. Newsworthy deaths had to be exceptional. Most people go unobserved.
From Dance Dance Dance
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
From What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
When you are used to the kind of life -of never getting anything you want- you stop knowing what it is you want.
From The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
Of course it hurt that we could never love each other in a physical way. We would have been far more happy if we had. But that was like the tides, the change of seasons--something immutable, an immovable destiny we could never alter. No matter how cleverly we might shelter it, our delicate friendship wasn't going to last forever. We were bound to reach a dead end. That was painfully clear.
From Sputnik Sweetheart
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
I've heard it said that the happiest time in our lives is the period when pop songs really mean
something to us, really get to us.
From First Person Singular: Stories
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
It's easy to forget things you don't need anymore.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
All through high school and college, his judo coach and older teammates would often say to him, "You have the talent and the strength, and you practice enough, but you just don't have the desire." They were probably right. He lacked that drive to win at all costs, which is why he would often make it to the semifinals and the finals but lose the all-important championship match.
From 1Q84
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Sports
Life, after all, was a long, drawn-out struggle. No matter how much sadness there was, how much loss and despair awaited us, you had to steadily move forward, step by painful step.
From The City and Its Uncertain Walls
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it's time for them to be hurt.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
Everything has boundaries. The same holds true with thought. You shouldn't fear boundaries, but you should not be afraid of destroying them. That's what is most important if you want to be free: respect for and exasperation with boundaries.
From Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
I’ve never once thought about how I was going to die,” she said. “I can’t think about it. I don’t even know how I’m going to live.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death, Life
Those were strange days, now that I look back at them. In the midst of life, everything revolved around death.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death, Life
It's unfair."
As a rule, life is unfair," I said.
Yeah, but I think I did say some awful things."
To Dick?"
Yeah."
I pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road and turned off the ignition. "That's just stupid, that kind of thinking," I said, nailing her with my eyes. "Instead of regretting what you did, you could have treated him decently from the beginning. You could've tried to be fair. But you didn't. You don't even have the right to be sorry.
From Dance Dance Dance
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
When someone is trying very hard to get something, they don't. And when they're running away from something as hard as they can, it usually catches up with them.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
If all those things -- trust, respect, etiquette -- stop functioning, the rules clash and the game breaks down.
From Killing Commendatore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
A revelation leaps over the borders of the everyday. A life without revelation is no life at all. What you need to do is move from reason that ‘observes’ to reason that ‘acts’. That’s what critical.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
In his or her own way, everyone I saw before me looked happy. Whether they were really happy or just looked it, I couldn't tell. But they did look happy on this pleasant early afternoon in late September, and because of that I felt a kind of loneliness new to me, as if I were the only one here who was not truly part of the scene.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
This is what it means to live on. When granted hope, a person uses it as fuel, as a guidepost to life. It is impossible to live without hope.
From 1Q84
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back. That's part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads - at least that's where I imagine it - there's a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in awhile, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you'll live forever in your own private library.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
In everybody’s life there’s a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can’t go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That’s how we survive.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
Life is here, death is over there. I am here, not over there.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Suicides? Heart attacks? The papers didn't seem interested. The world was full of ways to die, too many to cover. Newsworthy deaths had to be exceptional. Most people go unobserved.
From Dance Dance Dance
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
From What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
When you are used to the kind of life -of never getting anything you want- you stop knowing what it is you want.
From The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
Of course it hurt that we could never love each other in a physical way. We would have been far more happy if we had. But that was like the tides, the change of seasons--something immutable, an immovable destiny we could never alter. No matter how cleverly we might shelter it, our delicate friendship wasn't going to last forever. We were bound to reach a dead end. That was painfully clear.
From Sputnik Sweetheart
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
I've heard it said that the happiest time in our lives is the period when pop songs really mean
something to us, really get to us.
From First Person Singular: Stories
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
It's easy to forget things you don't need anymore.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
All through high school and college, his judo coach and older teammates would often say to him, "You have the talent and the strength, and you practice enough, but you just don't have the desire." They were probably right. He lacked that drive to win at all costs, which is why he would often make it to the semifinals and the finals but lose the all-important championship match.
From 1Q84
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Sports
Life, after all, was a long, drawn-out struggle. No matter how much sadness there was, how much loss and despair awaited us, you had to steadily move forward, step by painful step.
From The City and Its Uncertain Walls
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it's time for them to be hurt.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
Everything has boundaries. The same holds true with thought. You shouldn't fear boundaries, but you should not be afraid of destroying them. That's what is most important if you want to be free: respect for and exasperation with boundaries.
From Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
I’ve never once thought about how I was going to die,” she said. “I can’t think about it. I don’t even know how I’m going to live.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death, Life
Those were strange days, now that I look back at them. In the midst of life, everything revolved around death.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death, Life
It's unfair."
As a rule, life is unfair," I said.
Yeah, but I think I did say some awful things."
To Dick?"
Yeah."
I pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road and turned off the ignition. "That's just stupid, that kind of thinking," I said, nailing her with my eyes. "Instead of regretting what you did, you could have treated him decently from the beginning. You could've tried to be fair. But you didn't. You don't even have the right to be sorry.
From Dance Dance Dance
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
When someone is trying very hard to get something, they don't. And when they're running away from something as hard as they can, it usually catches up with them.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
If all those things -- trust, respect, etiquette -- stop functioning, the rules clash and the game breaks down.
From Killing Commendatore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
A revelation leaps over the borders of the everyday. A life without revelation is no life at all. What you need to do is move from reason that ‘observes’ to reason that ‘acts’. That’s what critical.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
In his or her own way, everyone I saw before me looked happy. Whether they were really happy or just looked it, I couldn't tell. But they did look happy on this pleasant early afternoon in late September, and because of that I felt a kind of loneliness new to me, as if I were the only one here who was not truly part of the scene.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
This is what it means to live on. When granted hope, a person uses it as fuel, as a guidepost to life. It is impossible to live without hope.
From 1Q84
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back. That's part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads - at least that's where I imagine it - there's a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in awhile, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you'll live forever in your own private library.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
In everybody’s life there’s a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can’t go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That’s how we survive.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
Life is here, death is over there. I am here, not over there.
From Norwegian Wood
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Suicides? Heart attacks? The papers didn't seem interested. The world was full of ways to die, too many to cover. Newsworthy deaths had to be exceptional. Most people go unobserved.
From Dance Dance Dance
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
From What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
When you are used to the kind of life -of never getting anything you want- you stop knowing what it is you want.
From The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
Of course it hurt that we could never love each other in a physical way. We would have been far more happy if we had. But that was like the tides, the change of seasons--something immutable, an immovable destiny we could never alter. No matter how cleverly we might shelter it, our delicate friendship wasn't going to last forever. We were bound to reach a dead end. That was painfully clear.
From Sputnik Sweetheart
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
I've heard it said that the happiest time in our lives is the period when pop songs really mean
something to us, really get to us.
From First Person Singular: Stories
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
From Kafka on the Shore
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Life
1
2
3
4