The facts and techniques or whatever they teach you in class isn’t going to be very useful in the real world, that’s for sure. Let’s face it, teachers are basically a bunch of morons. But you’ve got to remember this: you’re running away from home. You probably won’t have any chance to go to school anymore, so like it or not you’d better absorb whatever you can while you’ve got the chance. Become like a sheet of blotting paper and soak it all in. Later on you can figure out what to keep and what to unload. (location 117-117 09/14/2022 4:41:16 PM)

As I relax on the sofa and gaze around the room a thought hits me: This is exactly the place I’ve been looking for forever. A little hideaway in some sinkhole somewhere. (location 610-610 09/14/2022 6:04:19 PM)

“In ancient times people weren’t just male or female, but one of three types: male/male, male/female, or female/female. In other words, each person was made out of the components of two people. Everyone was happy with this arrangement and never really gave it much thought. But then God took a knife and cut everybody in half, right down the middle. So after that the world was divided just into male and female, the upshot being that people spend their time running around trying to locate their missing other half.” (location 627-627 09/14/2022 6:07:24 PM)

Mimi screwed up her long white whiskers and frowned. “I’d rather not think that, or even imagine it, but it is a possibility. Mr. Nakata, I haven’t lived all that many years, but I’ve seen terrible things I never could have imagined. Most people look at cats and think what a life—all we do is lie around in the sun, never having to lift a finger. But cats’ lives aren’t that idyllic. Cats are powerless, weak little creatures that injure easily.   We don’t have shells like turtles, nor wings like birds. We can’t burrow into the ground like moles or change colors like a chameleon. The world has no idea how many cats are injured every day, how many of us meet a miserable end. I happen to be lucky enough to live with the Tanabes in a warm and friendly family, the children treat me well, and I’ve got everything I need. But even my life isn’t always easy. When it comes to strays, though, they have a very tough time of it.” (location 1362-1362 09/15/2022 6:37:55 PM)

Works that have a certain imperfection to them have an appeal for that very reason—or at least they appeal to certain types of people. (location 1869-1869 09/15/2022 7:21:12 PM)

“That’s why I like to listen to Schubert while I’m driving. Like I said, it’s because all the performances are imperfect. A dense, artistic kind of imperfection stimulates your consciousness, keeps you alert. If I listen to some utterly perfect performance of an utterly perfect piece while I’m driving, I might want to close my eyes and die right then and there. But listening to the D major, I can feel the limits of what humans are capable of—that a certain type of perfection can only be realized through a limitless accumulation of the imperfect. And personally, I find that encouraging. (location 1880-1880 09/15/2022 7:22:37 PM)

It’s all a question of imagination. Our responsibility begins with the power to imagine. 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. Just like we see with Eichmann. (location 2235-2235 09/16/2022 2:59:34 PM)

But that calm won’t last long, you know. It’s like beasts that never tire, tracking you everywhere you go. They come out at you deep in the forest. They’re tough, relentless, merciless, untiring, and they never give up. You might control yourself now, and not masturbate, but they’ll get you in the end, as a wet dream. You might dream about raping your sister, your mother. It’s not something you can control. It’s a power beyond you—and all you can do is accept it.   You’re afraid of imagination. And even more afraid of dreams. Afraid of the responsibility that begins in dreams. But you have to sleep, and dreams are a part of sleep. When you’re awake you can suppress imagination. But you can’t suppress dreams. (location 2341-2341 09/16/2022 3:11:21 PM)

Silence, I discover, is something you can actually hear. (location 2348-2348 09/16/2022 3:11:51 PM)

The knack to killing someone, Mr. Nakata, is not to hesitate. Focus your prejudice and execute it swiftly—that’s the ticket when it comes to killing. (location 2433-2433 09/16/2022 4:24:45 PM)

“As I mentioned, Mr. Nakata, in everything there’s a proper order,” Johnnie Walker said. “You can’t look too far ahead. Do that and you’ll lose sight of what you’re doing and stumble. I’m not saying you should focus solely on details right in front of you, mind you. You’ve got to look ahead a bit or else you’ll bump into something. (location 2452-2452 09/16/2022 4:26:45 PM)

Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what’s going on. In fact, things will be even worse the next time you open your eyes. That’s the kind of world we live in, Mr. Nakata. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won’t make time stand still.” (location 2496-2496 09/16/2022 4:30:38 PM)

Whatever it is you’re seeking won’t come in the form you’re expecting. (location 2616-2616 09/16/2022 4:40:22 PM)

Because reality’s just the accumulation of ominous prophecies come to life. (location 2632-2632 09/16/2022 4:42:25 PM)

There’s only one kind of happiness, but misfortune comes in all shapes and sizes. (location 2687-2687 09/16/2022 4:48:05 PM)

“Kafka, in everybody’s life there’s a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can’t go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That’s how we survive.” (location 2762-2762 09/16/2022 4:55:46 PM)

“The problem, though, is that in all categories male authors are listed before female authors,” she says. “To our way of thinking this violates the principle of sexual equality and is totally unfair.”   Oshima picks up her business card again, runs his eyes over it, then lays it back down on the counter. “Ms. Soga,” he begins, “when they called the role in school your name would have come before Ms. Tanaka, and after Ms. Sekine. Did you file a complaint about that? Did you object, asking them to reverse the order? Does G get angry because it follows F in the alphabet? Does page 68 in a book start a revolution just because it follows 67?” (location 3017-3017 09/16/2022 11:44:47 PM)

“But there’s one thing I want you to remember, Kafka. Those are exactly the kind of people who murdered Miss Saeki’s childhood sweetheart. 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. Of course it’s important to know what’s right and what’s wrong.   Individual errors in judgment can usually be corrected. As long as you have the courage to admit mistakes, things can be turned around. But intolerant, narrow minds with no imagination are like parasites that transform the host, change form, and continue to thrive. They’re a lost cause, and I don’t want anyone like that coming in here.” (location 3112-3112 09/16/2022 11:57:39 PM)

Man doesn’t choose fate. Fate chooses man (location 3408-3408 09/17/2022 7:12:10 PM)

Love can rebuild the world, they say, so everything’s possible when it comes to love.” (location 3888-3888 09/17/2022 8:00:57 PM)

“Not necessarily. Symbolism and meaning are two separate things. I think she found the right words by bypassing procedures like meaning and logic. She captured words in a dream, like delicately catching hold of a butterfly’s wings as it flutters around. Artists are those who can evade the verbose.” (location 4168-4168 09/18/2022 6:07:39 PM)

“Nobody can predict where talent’s headed. Sometimes it simply vanishes. Other times it sinks down under the earth like an underground stream and flows off who knows where.” (location 4182-4182 09/18/2022 6:09:08 PM)

“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.” (location 4254-4254 09/18/2022 6:14:48 PM)

“My grandpa always said asking a question is embarrassing for a moment, but not asking is embarrassing for a lifetime.” (location 4358-4358 09/18/2022 6:48:30 PM)

“The pure present is an ungraspable advance of the past devouring the future. In truth, all sensation is already memory.” (location 4673-4673 09/18/2022 9:34:06 PM)

“Listen—God only exists in people’s minds. Especially in Japan, God’s always been kind of a flexible concept. Look at what happened after the war. Douglas MacArthur ordered the divine emperor to quit being God, and he did, making a speech saying he was just an ordinary person. So after 1946 he wasn’t God anymore. That’s what Japanese gods are like—they can be tweaked and adjusted. Some American chomping on a cheap pipe gives the order and presto change-o—God’s no longer God. A very postmodern kind of thing. If you think God’s there, He is. If you don’t, He isn’t. (location 4901-4901 09/19/2022 2:26:15 AM)

“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.” (location 4913-4913 09/19/2022 2:27:29 AM)

“The stone itself is meaningless. The situation calls for something, and at this point in time it just happens to be this stone. Anton Chekhov put it best when he said, ‘If a pistol appears in a story, eventually it’s got to be fired.’ Do you know what he means?”   “Nope.”   Colonel Sanders sighed. “I didn’t think so, but I had to ask. It’s the polite thing to do.”   “Much obliged.”   “What Chekhov was getting at is this: necessity is an independent concept. It has a different structure from logic, morals, or meaning. Its function lies entirely in the role it plays. What doesn’t play a role shouldn’t exist. What necessity requires does need to exist. That’s what you call dramaturgy. Logic, morals, or meaning don’t have anything to do with it. It’s all a question of relationality. Chekhov understood dramaturgy very well.”   “Whoa—you’re way over my head.”   “The stone you’re carrying there is Chekhov’s pistol. It will have to be fired. So in that sense it’s important. But there’s nothing sacred or holy about it. So don’t worry yourself about any curse.”   Hoshino frowned. (location 4917-4917 09/19/2022 2:30:32 AM)

“Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who’s in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It’s like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven’t seen in a long time. It’s just a natural feeling. You’re not the person who discovered that feeling, so don’t go trying to patent it, okay?” (location 5084-5084 09/19/2022 2:42:34 AM)

“Having an object that symbolizes freedom might make a person happier than actually getting the freedom it represents.” (location 5392-5392 09/19/2022 3:05:57 AM)

“Strength itself becomes your morality.” (location 5422-5422 09/19/2022 3:08:23 AM)

“The strength I’m looking for isn’t the kind where you win or lose. I’m not after a wall that’ll repel power coming from outside. What I want is the kind of strength to be able to absorb that outside power, to stand up to it. The strength to quietly endure things—unfairness, misfortune, sadness, mistakes, misunderstandings.” (location 5423-5423 09/19/2022 3:08:46 AM)

Life’s crappy, no matter how you cut it. He just hadn’t understood that when he was little. (location 5580-5580 09/19/2022 3:26:00 AM)

“The world would be a real mess if everybody was a genius. Somebody’s got to keep watch, take care of business.” (location 5589-5589 09/19/2022 3:26:58 AM)

Living turned me into nothing. Weird… People are born in order to live, right? But the longer I’ve lived, the more I’ve lost what’s inside me—and ended up empty. And I bet the longer I live, the emptier, the more worthless, I’ll become. Something’s wrong with this picture. Life isn’t supposed to turn out like this! Isn’t it possible to shift direction, to change where I’m headed? (location 5617-5617 09/19/2022 3:29:38 AM)

‘Pointless thinking is worse than no thinking at all.’” (location 5802-5802 09/19/2022 3:41:56 AM)

Things outside you are projections of what’s inside you, and what’s inside you is a projection of what’s outside. (location 6049-6049 09/19/2022 11:40:09 AM)

A life without once reading Hamlet is like a life spent in a coal mine (location 6513-6513 09/19/2022 2:21:56 PM)

“Listen up—there’s no war that will end all wars,” Crow tells me. “War breeds war. (location 6652-6652 09/19/2022 4:39:24 PM)

“Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.” (location 6700-6700 09/19/2022 4:43:17 PM)

“Yes, it was. The process of writing was important. Even though the finished product is completely meaningless.” (location 6757-6757 09/19/2022 4:48:39 PM)

A theory that still doesn’t have any good counterevidence is one worth pursuing (location 6881-6881 09/19/2022 4:58:01 PM)

His face was peaceful, with no signs of suffering, regret, or confusion. Very Nakata-like, Hoshino concluded. But what his life had really meant, Hoshino had no idea. Not that anybody’s life had more clear-cut meaning to it. What’s really important for people, what really has dignity, is how they die. Compared to that, he thought, how you lived doesn’t amount to much. Still, how you live determines how you die. These thoughts ran through his head as he stared at the face of the dead old man. (location 7031-7031 09/19/2022 5:07:40 PM)

Cops, Hoshino concluded, not for the first time in his life, are just gangsters who get paid by the state. (location 7050-7050 09/19/2022 5:08:56 PM)

It’s okay, Hoshino, don’t worry about it. That’s life. I’ve done some pretty awful things in my life too. Not much you can do about it. Things happen. You just got to hang in there. (location 7410-7410 09/20/2022 8:10:15 AM)

“Just one thing,” she says, raising her head and looking me straight in the eye. “I want you to remember me. If you remember me, then I don’t care if everybody else forgets.” (location 7574-7574 09/20/2022 8:23:04 AM)

Mother, you say. I forgive you. And with those words, audibly, the frozen part of your heart crumbles. (location 7609-7609 09/20/2022 8:25:44 AM)

Surfing’s a more profound kind of sport than it looks. When you surf you learn not to fight the power of nature, even if it gets violent.” (location 7923-7923 09/20/2022 8:46:40 AM)

People are mostly a product of where they were born and raised. (location 7948-7948 09/20/2022 8:48:39 AM)

“Every one of us is losing something precious to us,” he says after the phone stops ringing. “Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That’s part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads—at least that’s where I imagine it—there’s a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in a while, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you’ll live forever in your own private library. (location 7997-7997 09/20/2022 8:52:14 AM)

Time weighs down on you like an old, ambiguous dream. You keep on moving, trying to slip through it. But even if you go to the ends of the earth, you won’t be able to escape it. Still, you have to go there—to the edge of the world. There’s something you can’t do unless you get there. (location 8054-8054 09/20/2022 8:55:54 AM)