"Listen up -- there's no war that will end all wars."
— Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore)

"'Here's what I think, Mr. Wind-Up Bird,' said May Kasahara. 'Everybody's born with some different thing at the core of their existence. And that thing, whatever it is, becomes like a heat source that runs each person from the inside. I have one too, of course. Like everybody else. But sometimes it gets out of hand. It swells or shrinks inside me, and it shakes me up. What I'd really like to do is find a way to communicate that feeling to another person. But I can't seem to do it. They just don't get it. Of course, the problem could be that I'm not explaining it very well, but I think it's because they're not listening very well. They pretend to be listening, but they're not, really. So I get worked up sometimes, and I do some crazy things.'"
— Haruki Murakami (The Wind-up Bird Chronicle)

"To know one’s own state is not a simple matter. One cannot look directly at one’s own face with one’s own eyes, for example. One has no choice but to look at one’s reflection in the mirror. Through experience, we come to believe that the image is correct, but that is all. "
— Haruki Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle)

"Whiskey,like a beautiful woman,demands appreciation. You gaze first, then it's time to drink."
— Haruki Murakami (Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International))