Haruki Murakami Quotes

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Haruki Murakami

Profession : Writer

Birth : January 12, 1949

If you cannot concentrate, you are not so happy.

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.

Haruki Murakami

Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be individual.

Haruki Murakami

I collect records. And cats. I don't have any cats right now. But if I'm taking a walk and I see a cat, I'm happy.

Haruki Murakami

Young people these days don't trust anything at all. They want to be free.

Haruki Murakami

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.

Haruki Murakami

As a novelist, you could say that I am dreaming while I am awake, and every day I can continue with yesterday's dream. Because it is a dream, there are so many contradictions and I have to adjust them to make the story work. But, in principle, the original dream does not change.

Haruki Murakami

It's true that at the time I was fond of Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and it was from them that I learned about this kind of simple, swift-paced style, but the main reason for the style of my first novel is that I simply did not have the time to write sustained prose.

Haruki Murakami

Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life.

Haruki Murakami

There's no such thing as perfect writing, just like there's no such thing as perfect despair.

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.

Haruki Murakami

It is hard to be an individual in Japan.

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.

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.

Haruki Murakami

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

When I start to write, I don't have any plan at all. I just wait for the story to come.

Haruki Murakami

A fortunate author can write maybe twelve novels in his lifetime.

Haruki Murakami

When I write about a 15-year old, I jump, I return to the days when I was that age. It's like a time machine. I can remember everything. I can feel the wind. I can smell the air. Very actually. Very vividly.

Haruki Murakami

I like to read books. I like to listen to music.

Haruki Murakami

Confidence, as a teenager? Because I knew what I loved. I loved to read; I loved to listen to music; and I loved cats. Those three things. So, even though I was an only kid, I could be happy because I knew what I loved.

Haruki Murakami