Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
~ Haruki Murakami

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Until Edison invented the electric light, most of the world was totally covered in darkness. The physical darkness outside and the inner darkness of the soul were mixed together, with no boundary separating the two. They were directly linked. Like this.
~ Haruki Murakami

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He inherited from his mother’s stories the fundamental style he used, unaltered, in his own stories: namely, the assumption that fact may not be truth, and truth may not be factual.
~ Haruki Murakami

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Mediocrity is a constant, as one Russian writer put it. Russians have a way
with aphorisms. They probably spend all winter thinking them up.
~ Haruki Murakami

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Mediocrity is like a spot on your shirt, it never comes off.
~ Haruki Murakami

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You are a beautiful person, Doctor. Clearheaded. Strong. But you seem always to be dragging your heart along the ground. From now on, little by little, you must prepare yourself to face death. If you devote all of your future energy to living, you will not be able to die well. You must begin to shift gears, a little at a time. Living and dying are, in a sense, of equal value.
~ Haruki Murakami

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Even castles in the sky can do with a fresh coat of paint.
~ Haruki Murakami

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Ever since time began, it’s been moving ever forward without a moment’s rest. And one of the privileges given to those who’ve avoided dying young is the blessed right to grow old.
~ Haruki Murakami

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Whatever it is you’re seeking won’t come in the form you’re expecting.
~ Haruki Murakami

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