Haruki Murakami Quotes


"When I write about a 15-year old, I jump, I return to the days when I was that age. It's like a time machine. I can remember everything. I can feel the wind. I can smell the air. Very actually. Very vividly."
- Haruki Murakami
(Related: Time, Age, Machine, Old, Wind)

"It is hard to be an individual in Japan."
- Haruki Murakami
"There's no such thing as perfect writing, just like there's no such thing as perfect despair."
- Haruki Murakami
(Related: Despair, Writing)

"In Japan they prefer the realistic style. They like answers and conclusions, but my stories have none. I want to leave them wide open to every possibility. I think my readers understand that openness."
- Haruki Murakami
(Related: Possibility, Answers, Open, Style, Want)

"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be individual."
- Haruki Murakami
(Related: Men, People, Company, Jobs)

"Everything passes. Nobody gets anything for keeps. And that's how we've got to live."
- Haruki Murakami
"I am 55 years old now. It takes three years to write one book. I don't know how many books I will be able to write before I die. It is like a countdown. So with each book I am praying - please let me live until I am finished."
- Haruki Murakami
(Related: Books, Now, Old, Will, Years)

"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
(Related: Ability, Countries, Now, Respect, Want, Writer)

"I lost some of my friends because I got so famous, people who just assumed that I would be different now. I felt like everyone hated me. That is the most unhappy time of my life."
- Haruki Murakami
(Related: Life, Time, People, Famous, Friends, Now)