Quotes from book

Kafka on the Shore

“Everytime you see a flood like that on the news you tell yourself: That's it. That's my heart.”

“You've already decided what you're going to do, and all that's left is to set the wheels in motion. I mean, it's your life. Basically, you gotta go with what you think is right.”

“Strong and independent? I’m neither. I’m just being pushed along by reality, whether I like it or not.”

“People soon get tired of things that aren't boring, but not of what is boring.”

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

“The silence grew deeper, so deep that if you listened carefully you might very well catch the sound of the earth revolving on its axis.”

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

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

“My shadow is only half of what it should be."
"Everyone has their shortcomings.”

“It's just like Yeats said. In dreams begin responsibilities. Flip this around and you could say that where there's no power to imagine, no responsibility can arise.”

“It's hard to tell the difference between sea and sky, between voyager and sea. Between reality and the workings of the heart.”

“It was a strange feeling, like touching a void.”

“Listen, every object's in flux. The Earth, time, concepts, love, life, faith, justice, evil-they're all fluid and in transition. They don't stay in one form or in one place forever. The whole universe is like some big FedEx box.”

“From my own experience, 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. I'm generalizing, of course.”

“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.”

“You're, you see, and nobody else. Youyou, right?”

“In dreams lie responsibilities.”

“Narrow minds devoid of imagination. Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideals, inflexible systems. Those are the things that really frighten me. What I absolutely fear and loathe.”

“As long as there's such a thing as time, everybody's damaged in the end, changed into something else. It always happens, sooner or later.”