Haruki Murakami Quotes

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Haruki Murakami

Profession : Writer

Birth : January 12, 1949

Whenever I write a novel, I have a strong sense that I am doing something I was unable to do before. With each new work, I move up a step and discover something new inside me.

Haruki Murakami

Since I have come to America, I am often asked whether my next novel will be set in America. I don't think it will. I think I will be living in America for some time to come, but while living in America, I would like to write about Japanese society from the outside.

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.

Haruki Murakami

Whenever I write a novel, music just sort of naturally slips in (much like cats do, I suppose).

Haruki Murakami

I think history is collective memories. In writing, I'm using my own memory, and I'm using my collective memory.

Haruki Murakami

I know how fiction matters to me, because if I want to express myself, I have to make up a story. Some people call it imagination. To me, it's not imagination. It's just a way of watching.

Haruki Murakami

Everything passes. Nobody gets anything for keeps. And that's how we've got to live.

Haruki Murakami

Among the many values in life, I appreciate freedom most.

Haruki Murakami

Please think of me like an endangered species and just observe me quietly from far away. If you try to talk to me or touch me casually, I may get intimidated and bite you. So please be careful.

Haruki Murakami

If you want to talk about something new, you have to make up a new kind of language.

Haruki Murakami

Stories lie deep in our souls. Stories lie so deep at the bottom of our hearts that they can bring people together on the deepest level. When I write a novel, I go into such depths.

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.

Haruki Murakami

You are 27 or 28 right? It is very tough to live at that age. When nothing is sure. I have sympathy with you.

Haruki Murakami

I don't get bored.

Haruki Murakami

Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally. So I get up early in the morning, 4 o'clock, and I sit at my desk and what I do is just dream. After three or four hours, that's enough. In the afternoon, I run. The next day, the dream will continue.

Haruki Murakami

You know, if you are kind of rich, the best thing is that you don't have to think about money. The best thing you can buy with money is freedom, time. I don't know how much I earn a year. I have no idea. I don't know how much I pay in taxes.

Haruki Murakami

I'm not intelligent. I'm not arrogant. I'm just like the people who read my books. I used to have a jazz club, and I made the cocktails and I made the sandwiches. I didn't want to become a writer - it just happened.

Haruki Murakami

My heroes don't have anything special. They have something to tell other people but they don't know how, so they talk to themselves.

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.

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.

Haruki Murakami