The Cat Who Saved the Library Quotes

“The most frightening thing isn’t the idea of losing your heart. It’s that no one will tell you you’ve lost it.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“There are more important things than success. I'm not saying that it isn't important to succeed, but books teach us that other things are more important. Like reaching out to help someone in need, listening to someone who is troubled, and understanding that there are things more valuable than money. They teach us ideas that can't be explained by logic alone, concepts that are perhaps not so much the norm these days, but used to be common sense. And everyone understood them. If you read a book, you'd understand immediately.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“If you read a lot of stories, you become able to understand the feelings of many different people. That's the power of imagination.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Brute force doesn't solve anything. It just masquerades as the solution.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Don’t forget,’ he said in a deep, gentle voice. ‘What you see is not everything. The most important things always reside in the heart.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“None of these people was deliberately malicious; it was simply that while struggling to get by they had gradually lost a little piece of their hearts.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“What I can say is that no matter how much I’d like to do whatever I want, there are many things I can’t manage without someone’s help.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“It doesn’t sound too bad, that phrase, “Be true to yourself.” But if you think you can be true to yourself by kicking someone else to the gutter, then you’ve got it all wrong.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Hope made a show of reviving – not with any reason to back it, but only because it is its nature to revive.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“The most frightening thing isn't the idea of losing your heart. It's that no one will tell you you've lost it. It's having no friends to tell you you're wrong when you treat someone badly. In other words, being all alone.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Imagination is the ability to think about others. To put yourself in their shoes, to be able to sympathize with those weaker than oneself, to become someone who can occasionally offer a helping hand. That's the power of imagination.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Books contain limitless worlds. Even if it's impossible for you to visit a place, a book can transport you there. And sometimes you come across a piece of old wisdom or an important thought that has almost been forgotten.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“That's why we have to be careful. Something that has been in the hands of a twisted soul will also acquire a twisted soul. It's sad but I'm convinced it's true”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“The idea that those who have so much and those who have so little can grow together is a pathetic illusion. As the former becomes richer, the latter becomes poorer. Wealth is not absolute; it is relative. Everyone pretends to be unaware of this, but deep down, they must know it's true. That's why they deceive and harm others, plunder from them, clinging desperately to the exclusivity that ranks them 'winners.' What on earth are they doing? a world where the corpses of countless poor lie beneath a handful of mostrous victors. They call this horrendous barbarism 'freedom.' Read the banner. It says 'self.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“I won’t ask if we’ll meet again,’ she said.
‘A wise decision. People are so wasteful with their words.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“To do that, she needed to step beyond the narrow world she had begun to shut herself away in, if only at a very gradual pace. She understood that now.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“She’d realized she knew far too little about the world. It wasn’t enough to sit there in the library with an open book; she needed to walk outside on her own two feet.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Nothing had been resolved, and her perspective hadn’t suddenly broadened. But something inside her had shifted, even if only a little. She’d found herself yearning to learn more.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Nanami had a peculiar habit of reading multiple books at once, yet still feeling the need to reach for new ones. There were always so many books she wanted to read, far more than she could keep up with.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“The best thing to do was probably to ‘relax and browse the bookshelves until the temperature was right’.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“When everything turns white like that it’s like some magical scene from a book”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“It wasn’t only books that had a soul. The possession of a soul wasn’t limited to tangible objects either. If human thoughts and emotions continued to gather around words, or even abstract concepts, these would eventually possess a soul and take on a life of their own. And, as Rintaro had said, ‘Something that has been in the hands of a person with a twisted soul will also acquire a twisted soul.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Even though there were many things Nanami didn’t grasp, there was one thing she truly understood – that no matter how strongly you believed in something, that belief could be shattered in an instant.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“I have no idea what the future holds. Compared to you, who have seen many different things, I know nothing at all. I don’t understand even half of what you’re talking about. So, I won’t say that everything’s going to be fine. Instead, I’m asking you a favour – if I ever lose my way, come back and tell me off. Put me right.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“What are humans doing? Growth? It’s foolishness. The idea that those who have so much and those who have so little can grow together is a pathetic illusion. As the former become richer, the latter become poorer. Wealth is not absolute; it is relative. Everyone pretends to be unaware of this, but deep down, they must know it’s true. That’s why they deceive and harm others, plunder from them, clinging desperately to the exclusivity that ranks them as “winners”. What are they doing? A world where the corpses of countless poor lie beneath a handful of monstrous victors. They call this horrendous barbarism “freedom”. Read the banner. It says “self”.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“It’s not easy at all to explain why it’s wrong. Maybe it’s not something you understand through logic. It’s something you feel with your heart.’
Nanami looked down at her book.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Live your life the way you want. Don’t listen to other people’s opinions, just express your own. And work harder and harder so you’ll succeed in society.” But I believe that way of thinking is completely wrong.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“I’m not saying that it isn’t important to succeed,’ Nanami continued, ‘but books teach us that other things are more vital. Like reaching out to help someone in need, listening to someone who is troubled, and understanding that there are things more valuable than money. They teach us ideas that can’t be explained by logic alone, concepts that are perhaps not so much the norm these days, but used to be common sense. And everyone understood them. If you read a book, you’d understand immediately.’
‘But, as you said, so many people have already forgotten about these concepts. Doesn’t that mean they’re pointless nowadays? That they no longer serve any purpose?’
‘Not at all. They give you great strength.’
‘For example?’
‘They teach you that there is hope to be found in all places. That you’re never alone. That you can run through a sea of flames and find your way out.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“Books become imbued with the power of all the people who have encountered them. That power is what pulled me out of that inferno. I was just able to sense it.’
‘Hard to believe. The power of books leaves a person weak and helpless. Empathy, sympathy, consideration – all those kinds of emotions weaken people’s resolve, take away their ability to make decisions, and also lower their levels of aggression. In other words, they diminish a person’s potential and make it more difficult to succeed.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library

“But I know that even such powerful human beings can be surprisingly fragile once they are gripped by anxiety and despair. A person abandoned in a fire like that one doesn’t usually survive.”
― Sōsuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved the Library