25 thought-provoking quotes from Haruki Murakami about the most important things in this world

It’s often hard to find the right words to describe our feelings, emotions and other aspects of human behaviour. But Haruki Murakami is a writer who knows how to do this skilfully. It often seems as though he truly understands the chemistry of the human soul, somehow finding the ability to describe it with penetrating accuracy and thought-provoking sensitivity.

In honour of Murakami, one of the greatest writers of modern times, we selected 25 of hist best quotes for you to contemplate.

1. A world without love is like wind outside the window. You can neither touch it nor inhale it.
2. I used to think that people grow up gradually, little by little... It turns out, they don’t. A person grows up instantly.
3. Wrong opinions don’t exist. There are just those opinions which don’t match ours. That’s all.
4. The older we get the more things we can no longer put right.
5. Everything that once was within us and then disappears, even if it disappears forever, leaves holes that will never heal.
6. When we embrace each other, we share our fears.
7. If every person believed in a happy ending, the world would have nothing to be afraid of.
8. No matter how hard you try, there’s no escaping the pain you feel when you’re upset.
9. Express your feelings. It’s much worse to keep them inside. Otherwise, they will accumulate and harden on the inside. And then you will die.
10. Nobody likes being alone. I just hate to be disappointed.
11. It seems that the heart hides inside a tough shell, and few people are able to break through it. That must be why I find it difficult to really feel love.
12. Honesty for each other and the desire to help are the most important things.
13. Any emptiness will always be filled with something.
14. When people are given hope, they use it as fuel to help them live longer. Without hope there is no "longer".
15. Our reality is an infinite battle between what happened and what we want to remember.
16. There are no secrets which won’t eventually burst free from the heart.
17. The most important thing is not that big revelation that others comprehended before you, but that little thought which came to you alone.
18. What is loneliness? It’s similar to that feeling you experience on a rainy evening when you stand by the mouth of a large river and watch how the mighty flows of water merge with the sea.
19. Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.
20. When you watch the sea for a long time, you begin to miss people. When you watch people, you begin to miss the sea.
21. Anything and everything looks beautiful when you examine it from a distance.
22. It often happens that the most important things in the world begin with trifles.
23. Moving in the wrong direction at high speed is worse than not moving at all.
24. When you have nobody to share your lonely thoughts with, your thoughts begin to divide you between themselves.
25. If everything happens the way that you want it to, life will become boring.

Image from the film "Norwegian Wood"
Image source: kinopoisk