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Haruki Murakami Quotes
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655 Quotes on Love, Loneliness, and the Complexities of Human Emotions

Discover the profound and thought-provoking words of Haruki Murakami, one of the most renowned authors of our time. Delve into his quotes on love, loneliness, and the complexities of human emotions. Let his words transport you to a world where every sentence is a masterpiece.

Haruki Murakami is a highly acclaimed Japanese writer, known for his bestselling novels, essays, and short stories. His works have been translated into 50 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Notable accolades include the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World Fantasy Award, and the Franz Kafka Prize. Murakami's diverse range of writing spans genres such as science fiction, fantasy, and crime fiction. He often incorporates magical realism elements into his narratives.

Born in Kyoto during the post-World War II era, Murakami grew up in Nishinomiya, Ashiya, and Kobe. Influenced by Western culture from a young age, he developed a passion for literature and music by European and American writers. Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo where he met his wife Yoko. Before establishing himself as a writer, he owned a jazz bar called Peter Cat with his wife from 1974 to 1981. In addition to his literary pursuits, Murakami is an avid marathon runner and triathlon enthusiast.

Despite his immense popularity internationally, Murakami has faced criticism from Japan's literary establishment for being un-Japanese in style. However, he has been applauded by editors and critics worldwide for his extraordinary talent as a novelist.

✵ 12. January 1949
Haruki Murakami photo
Haruki Murakami: 655 quotes136 likes

Haruki Murakami Quotes

“A person learns how to love himself through the simple acts of loving and being loved by someone else.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

“I'm often asked what I think about as I run. Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I'm running? I don't have a clue.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think, ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore. The ‘hurt’ part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

“Knowledge and ability were tools, not things to show off.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

“With my eyes closed, I would touch a familiar book and draw its fragrance deep inside me. This was enough to make me happy.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“If I stayed here, something inside me would be lost forever—something I couldn't afford to lose. It was like a vague dream, a burning, unfulfilled desire. The kind of dream people have only when they're seventeen.”

Haruki Murakami book South of the Border, West of the Sun

Source: South of the Border, West of the Sun

“Unclose your mind. You are not a prisoner. You are a bird in fight, searching the skies for dreams.”

Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Source: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Chapter 18:

“When I'm running I don't have to talk to anybody and don't have to listen to anybody. This is a part of my day I can't do without.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

“Time moves in it special way in the middle of the night.”

Haruki Murakami book After Dark

Source: After Dark

“Hey, Mr. Nakata. Gramps. Fire! Flood! Earthquake! Revolution! Godzilla's on the loose! Get!”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“I'll never see them again. I know that. And they know that. And knowing this, we say farewell.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“We each have a special something we can get only at a special time of our life. like a small flame. A careful, fortunate few cherish that flame, nurture it, hold it as a torch to light their way. But once that flame goes out, it’s gone forever.”

Haruki Murakami book Sputnik Sweetheart

Source: Sputnik Sweetheart

“When people tell a lie about something, they have to make up a bunch of lies to go with the first one. ‘Mythomania’ is the word for it.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore (2002), Chapter 12
Context: Most things are forgotten over time. Even the war itself, the life-and-death struggle people went through, is now like something from the distant past. We're so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past, like ancient stars that have burned out, are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about every day, too many new things we have to learn. New styles, new information, new technology, new terminology... But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone. And for me, what happened in the woods that day is one of these.

“Life is so uncertain: you never know what could happen. One way to deal with that is to keep your pajamas washed.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

“Lots of different ways to live and lots of different ways to die. But in the end that doesn't make a bit of difference. All that remains is a desert.”

Haruki Murakami book South of the Border, West of the Sun

Source: South of the Border, West of the Sun

“Please remember: things are not what they seem.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

“Love can rebuild the world, they say, so everything's possible when it comes to love.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“Time expands, then contracts, all in tune with the stirrings of the heart.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“Mediocrity is like a spot on your shirt, it never comes off.”

Haruki Murakami book Dance Dance Dance

Dance, Dance, Dance
Source: Dance Dance Dance

“If you never noticed, it never happened.”

Haruki Murakami

Source: 1Q84 BOOK 1

“I’ve built a wall around me, never letting anybody inside and trying not to venture outside myself”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“There weren't any curtains in the windows, and the books that didn't fit into the bookshelf lay piled on the floor like a bunch of intellectual refugees.”

Haruki Murakami book Sputnik Sweetheart

Source: Sputnik Sweetheart

“I go back to the reading room, where I sink down in the sofa and into the world of The Arabian Nights. Slowly, like a movie fadeout, the real world evaporates. I'm alone, inside the world of the story. My favourite feeling in the world.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“Death was not the opposite of life. It was already here, within my being, it had always been here, and no struggle would permit me to forget that.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Possibilities are like cancer. The more I think about them, the more they multiply, and there's no way to stop them. I'm out of control.”

Haruki Murakami book Dance Dance Dance

Source: Dance Dance Dance

“But if something did happen, it happened. Whether it's right or wrong. I accept everything that happens, and that's how I became the person I am now.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“I don't know, there's something about you. Say there's an hourglass: the sand's about to run out. Someone like you can always be counted on to turn the thing over.”

Haruki Murakami book A Wild Sheep Chase

Source: A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel (1982), Chapter 2: Sixteen Steps

“I wonder what ants do on rainy days?”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“I never trust people with no appetite. It's like they're always holding something back on you.”

Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Source: Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Chapter 35, Nail Clippers, Butter Sauce, Iron Vase
Source: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

“I think that my job is to observe people and the world, and not to judge them. I always hope to position myself away from so-called conclusions. I would like to leave everything wide open to all the possibilities in the world.”

Haruki Murakami

“How much do you love me?' Midori asked.

'Enough to melt all the tigers in the world to butter,' I said.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“I may be the type who manages to grab all the pointless things in life but lets the really important things slip away.”

Haruki Murakami

Source: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman: 24 Stories

“Deep rivers run quiet.”

Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

“When the fire goes out, you'll start feeling the cold. You'll wake up whether you want to or not.”

Haruki Murakami

Source: After the Quake

“Losing you is most difficult for me, but the nature of my love for you is what matters. If it distorts into half-truth, then perhaps it is better not to love you. I must keep my mind but loose you.”

Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Source: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Chapter 38, Escape

“Never let fear and stupid pride make you lose someone who's precious to you.”

Haruki Murakami book Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Source: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

“Even castles in the sky can do with a fresh coat of paint.”

Haruki Murakami book South of the Border, West of the Sun

Source: South of the Border, West of the Sun

“Whenever she felt like crying, she would instead become angry—at someone else or at herself—which meant that it was rare for her to shed tears.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

“The body is not the only target of rape. Violence does not always take a visible form, and not all wounds gush blood.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Variant: Violence does not always take visible form, and not all wounds gush blood.
Source: 1Q84

“Open your eyes, train your ears, use your head. If a mind you have, then use it while you can.”

Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Source: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

“The dead will always be dead, but we have to go on living.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Kindness and a caring mind are two separate qualities. Kindness is manners. It is superficial custom, an acquired practice. Not so the mind. The mind is deeper, stronger, and, I believe, it is far more inconstant.”

Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Source: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Chapter 16: The Coming of Winter

“The journey I'm taking is inside me. Just like blood travels down veins, what I'm seeing is my inner self and what seems threatening is just the echo of the fear in my heart.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“I do want your happiness. But the absence of fighting or hatred or desire also means the opposites do not exist either. No joy, no communion, no love. Only where there is disillusionment and depression and sorrow does happiness arise; without the despair of loss, there is no hope.”

Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Source: Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Chapter 32, Shadow in the Throes of Death
Source: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Context: First, about the mind. You tell me there is no fighting or hatred or desire in the Town. That this is a beautiful dream, and I do want your happiness. But the absence of fighting or hatred or desire also means the opposites do not exist either. No joy, no communion, no love. Only where there is disillusionment and depression and sorrow does happiness arise; without the despair of loss, there is no hope.

“When I wake up, my pillow’s cold and damp with tears. But tears for what? I have no idea.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore