--- title: "9 Empty Quotes By Haruki Murakami" description: "9 Empty quotes by Haruki Murakami. Plus more from Haruki Murakami and more Empty sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/388/haruki-murakami-21_absence_an-empty-shell-those-were-the-first-word_2003646.jpg" --- > [An empty shell. Those were the first words that sprang to mind. … Something incredibly important - .. - had disappeared from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/an-empty-shell-those-were-the-first-words-that-sprang-to-mind/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/388/haruki-murakami-21_absence_an-empty-shell-those-were-the-first-word_2003646.jpg) > [Narrow minds devoid of imagination. Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideals, inflexible systems. Those are the things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/narrow-minds-devoid-of-imagination-intolerance-theories-cut-off-from/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/haruki-murakami-21_cutting_narrow-minds-devoid-of-imagination-intol_169933.jpg) > [I try not to think about anything special while running. As a matter of fact, I usually run with my mind empty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-try-not-to-think-about-anything-special-while-running-as-a-matter/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/haruki-murakami-21_empty_i-try-not-to-think-about-anything-specia_103487.jpg) > [Living like an empty shell is not really living, no matter how many years it may go on. The heart and flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/living-like-an-empty-shell-is-not-really-living-no-matter-how-many/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/haruki-murakami-21_birth_living-like-an-empty-shell-is-not-really_2155563.jpg) > [Sometimes I feel like a caretaker of a museum -- a huge, empty museum where no one ever comes, and I'm watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/sometimes-i-feel-like-a-caretaker-of-a-museum-a-huge-empty-museum/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/haruki-murakami-21_caretaker_sometimes-i-feel-like-a-caretaker-of-a-m_2786243.jpg) > [Nakata's empty inside... Do you know what it means to be completely empty? Being empty is like a vacant house. An unlocked,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/nakata-s-empty-inside-do-you-know-what-it-means-to-be-completely/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/haruki-murakami-21_empty_nakata-s-empty-inside-do-you-know-what-i_1256469.jpg) > [“No, I don't think I've been defiled. But I haven't been saved, either. There's nobody who can save me right now, Mr.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/no-i-don-t-think-i-ve-been-defiled-but-i-haven-t-been-saved-either/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a7/haruki-murakami-21_emptiness_no-i-don-t-think-i-ve-been-defiled-but-i_1112015.jpg) > [I wrote a huge number of letters that spring: one a week to Naoko, several to Reiko, and several more to Midori.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-wrote-a-huge-number-of-letters-that-spring-one-a-week-to-naoko/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c14/haruki-murakami-21_break_i-wrote-a-huge-number-of-letters-that-sp_2688172.jpg) > [Only people who have been discriminated against can really know how much it hurts. Each person feels the pain in his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/only-people-who-have-been-discriminated-against-can-really-know-how/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/haruki-murakami-21_callous_only-people-who-have-been-discriminated_2589087.jpg) ## Other authors on Empty ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-i-ll-face-the-tasks-before-me-and-complete-them-as-best-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Eleven o'clock had come and gone. I had to find a way to bring this conversation to a successful conclusion and get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/eleven-o-clock-had-come-and-gone-i-had-to-find-a-way-to-bring-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Some people get a kick out of reading railway timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty/haruki-murakami/#itemlist", "name": "9 Empty Quotes By Haruki Murakami", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An empty shell. Those were the first words that sprang to mind. … Something incredibly important - .. - had disappeared from Miu for good. 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What I absolutely fear and loathe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/narrow-minds-devoid-of-imagination-intolerance-theories-cut-off-from/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/haruki-murakami-21_cutting_narrow-minds-devoid-of-imagination-intol_169933.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/haruki-murakami-21_cutting_narrow-minds-devoid-of-imagination-intol_169933.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/haruki-murakami-21_cutting_narrow-minds-devoid-of-imagination-intol_169933.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Narrow minds devoid of imagination. 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Each person feels the pain in his own way, each has his own scars. So I think I'm as concerned about fairness and justice as anybody. But what disgusts me even more are people who have no imagination. The kind T. S. Elliot calls 'hollow men'. People who fill up that lack of imagination with heartless bits of straw, not even aware of what they're doing. 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