Kafka on the Shore

by Haruki Murakami

It’s all a question of imagination. Our responsibility begins with the power to imagine. It’s just as Yeats said: In dreams begin responsibility. Turn this on its head and you could say that where there’s no power to imagine, no responsibility can arise. Just as we see with Eichmann.

Thinking is what makes us realize about our responsibilities. Ignorance is something that makes us oblique. It is good if we never realize our responsibilities but once we do, regret, the most poisonous feeling comes along.