Quotes By Haruki Murakami
Everything passes. Nobody gets anything for keeps. And that's how we've got to live.
Haruki Murakami
I had no ambition to be a writer because the books I read were too good, my standards were too high.
Haruki Murakami
Team sports aren't my thing. I find it easier to pick something up if I can do it at my own speed. And you don't need a partner to go running, you don't need a particular place, like in tennis, just a pair of trainers.
Haruki Murakami
You know, if you are kind of rich, the best thing is that you don't have to think about money. The best thing you can buy with money is freedom, time. I don't know how much I earn a year. I have no idea. I don't know how much I pay in taxes.
Haruki Murakami
Many people, especially young people, would like to be more independent and on their own. But it is very difficult and they suffer from feelings of isolation. I think that is one reason why young readers support my work.
Haruki Murakami
I didn't read so much Japanese literature. Because my father was a teacher of Japanese literature, I just wanted to do something else.
Haruki Murakami
I get up early in the morning, 4 o'clock, and I sit at my desk and what I do is just dream. After three or four hours, that's enough. In the afternoon, I run.
Haruki Murakami
When I was a teenager, I thought how great it would be if only I could write novels in English. I had the feeling that I would be able to express my emotions so much more directly than if I wrote in Japanese.
Haruki Murakami
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
I don't know how many good books I still have in me; I hope there are another four or five.
Haruki Murakami
I am worrying about my country. I feel I have a responsibility as a novelist to do something.
Haruki Murakami
You are 27 or 28 right? It is very tough to live at that age. When nothing is sure. I have sympathy with you.
Haruki Murakami
I'm not a fast thinker, but once I am interested in something, I am doing it for many years.
Haruki Murakami
I myself have been on my own and utterly independent since I graduated. I haven't belonged to any company or any system. It isn't easy to live like this in Japan.
Haruki Murakami
My heroes don't have anything special. They have something to tell other people but they don't know how, so they talk to themselves.
Haruki Murakami
Before I became a writer, I was running a jazz bar in the center of Tokyo, which means that I worked in filthy air all the time late into the night. I was very excited when I started making a living out of my writing, and I decided, 'I will live in nothing but an absolutely healthy way.'
Haruki Murakami
I'm a writer, not a professional runner. It's fun and it helps me write. I need powerful concentration.
Haruki Murakami
Some people think literature is high culture and that it should only have a small readership. I don't think so... I have to compete with popular culture, including TV, magazines, movies and video games.
Haruki Murakami
Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be individual.
Haruki Murakami
I've run the Boston Marathon 6 times before. I think the best aspects of the marathon are the beautiful changes of the scenery along the route and the warmth of the people's support. I feel happier every time I enter this marathon.
Haruki Murakami
Most near-future fictions are boring. It's always dark and always raining, and people are so unhappy.
Haruki Murakami
I've been running a full marathon every year for more than 20 years, and my record is getting worse. Getting older, getting worse. It's natural.
Haruki Murakami
When I am writing, I do not distinguish between the natural and supernatural. Everything seems real. That is my world, you could say.
Haruki Murakami