“ The Number One Rule of Working Is: DO THE BEST WORK YOU CAN. Why do anything but your best? What's the point? Carew Papritz
“ Why books?”Her brows rose. “I beg your pardon?”“Why are they your vice?”She set her plate down and wiped her hand on her skirts before reaching for the top volume on a stack of small, leather bound bo… Sarah MacLean
“ I know, too, why she asked me not to forget her. Naoko herself knew, of course. She knew that my memories of her would fade. Which is precisely why she begged me never to forget her, to remember that… Haruki Murakami
“ I straightened up and looked out the plane window at the dark clouds hanging over the North Sea, thinking of what I had lost in the course of my life: times gone forever, friends who had died or disap… Haruki Murakami
“ I thought about Kizuki. "So you finally made Naoko yours," I heard myself telling him. Oh, well, she was yours to begin with. Now maybe, she's where she belongs. But in this world, in this imperfect w… Haruki Murakami
“ I suddenly thought about my old girlfriend, the one I had first slept with in my third year of high school. Chills ran through me as I realized how badly I had treated her. I had hardly ever thought a… Haruki Murakami
“ No truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that sorrow. Haruki Murakami
“ I'd swallow some whiskey and listen to the waves while I thought about Naoko. It was too strange to think that she was dead and no longer part of this world. I couldn't absorb the truth of it. I could… Haruki Murakami
“ But who can say what's best? That's why you need to grab whatever chance you have for happiness where you find it, and not worry too much about other people. My experience tells me that we get no more… Haruki Murakami
“ I have always loved Naoko, and I still loved her. But there is a decisive finality to what exists between Midori and me. Haruki Murakami
“ I still loved Naoko. Bent and twisted as that love might be, I did love her. Somewhere inside me, there was still preserved a broad, open space, untouched, for Naoko and no one else. Haruki Murakami
“ I loved Midori. And I had probably known as much for a while. I had just been avoiding the conclusion for a very long time. Haruki Murakami
“ One thing became crystal clear to me when I couldn't see you anymore. I realized that the only way I had been able to survive until then was having you in my life. When I lost you, the pain and loneli… Haruki Murakami
“ I could never tell what was going on inside the pretty heads of the girls that Naoko brought along, and they probably couldn't understand me, either. Haruki Murakami
“ Because sometimes I have a need for human warmth, I answered honestly. Sometimes, if I can't feel something like the warmth of a woman's skin, I get so lonely I can't stand it. Haruki Murakami
“ It was that kind of kiss. But as with all kisses, it was not without a certain element of danger Haruki Murakami
“ In any case, though, I believe that I have not been fair to you and that, as a result, I must have led you around in circles and hurt you deeply. Haruki Murakami
“ Maybe so, but I'm not just looking up at the sky and waiting for the fruit to drop. In my own way, I'm working hard. I'm working ten times harder than you are. Haruki Murakami
“ If you think about it, an unfair society that makes it possible for you to exploit your abilities to the limit. Haruki Murakami
