Haruki Murakami quotes - page 24

For novelists or musicians, if they really want to create something, they need to go downstairs and find a passage to get into the second basement. What I want to do is go down there, but still stay sane. (Haruki Murakami)
I just wanted to write something about running, but I realized that to write about my running is to write about my writing. It's a parallel thing in me. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I started writing at the kitchen table after midnight. It took ten months to finish that first book; I sent it to a publisher and I got some kind of prize, so it was like a dream - I was surprised to find it happening. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I try not to think about anything special while running. As a matter of fact, I usually run with my mind empty. However, when I run empty-minded, something naturally and abruptly crawls in sometime. That might become an idea that can help me with my writing. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I don't think of myself as an artist. I'm just a guy who can write. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I was enjoying myself writing, because I don't know what's going to happen when I take a ride around that corner. You don't know at all what you're going to find there. That can be thrilling when you read a book, especially when you're a kid and you're reading stories. View quote
Haruki Murakami
In Japan, the writers have made up a literary community, a circle, a society. I think 90 percent of Japan's writers live in Tokyo. Naturally, they make a community. There are groups and customs, and so they are tied up in a way. View quote
Haruki Murakami
Before I became a writer, I was running a jazz bar in the center of Tokyo, which means that I worked in filthy air all the time late into the night. I was very excited when I started making a living out of my writing, and I decided, 'I will live in nothing but an absolutely healthy way.' View quote
Haruki Murakami
When I was a teenager, I thought how great it would be if only I could write novels in English. I had the feeling that I would be able to express my emotions so much more directly than if I wrote in Japanese. View quote
Haruki Murakami
Young people these days don't trust anything at all. They want to be free. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I used to run a full marathon in three hours and 25 or 26 minutes. Not any more. (Haruki Murakami)
I've been running a full marathon every year for more than 20 years, and my record is getting worse. Getting older, getting worse. It's natural. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I've run the Boston Marathon 6 times before. I think the best aspects of the marathon are the beautiful changes of the scenery along the route and the warmth of the people's support. I feel happier every time I enter this marathon. View quote
Haruki Murakami
Whenever I write a novel, music just sort of naturally slips in (much like cats do, I suppose). View quote
Haruki Murakami
It is hard to be an individual in Japan. View quote
Haruki Murakami
When I am writing, I do not distinguish between the natural and supernatural. Everything seems real. That is my world, you could say. View quote
Haruki Murakami
You have to dream intentionally. Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I am worrying about my country. I feel I have a responsibility as a novelist to do something. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I'm not a fast thinker, but once I am interested in something, I am doing it for many years. View quote
Haruki Murakami
You have to be practical. So every time I say, if you want to write a novel you have to be practical, people get bored. They are disappointed. They are expecting a more dynamic, creative, artistic thing to say. What I want to say is: you have to be practical. View quote
Haruki Murakami
A fortunate author can write maybe twelve novels in his lifetime. (Haruki Murakami)
Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I didn't read so much Japanese literature. Because my father was a teacher of Japanese literature, I just wanted to do something else. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I have no models in Japanese literature. I created my own style, my own way. View quote
Haruki Murakami
I lost some of my friends because I got so famous, people who just assumed that I would be different now. I felt like everyone hated me. That is the most unhappy time of my life. View quote
Haruki Murakami