The others in the dorm thought I wanted to be a writer, because I was always alone with a book, but I… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
I write my novels personally, desperately and non-negligently. When I write my novels, I think about my novels only, and never do… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
You like to write. It's the single most important quality for someone who wants to be a writer. But not in itself… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“It just happens to be the way that I'm made. I have to write things down to feel I fully comprehend them.” — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
I hate requests. They make me feel unhappy. It's like when I take a book out of the library. As soon as… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
Good style happens in one of two ways: the writer either has an inborn talent or is willing to work herself to… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“Nobody ever recommended or even desired that I be a novelist - in fact, some tried to stop me. I had the… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
Which is why I am writing this book. To think. To understand. It just happens to be the way I'm made. I… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake,… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
I didn't have much to say to anybody but kept to myself and my books. With my eyes closed, I would touch… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
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,… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
It's physical. If you keep on writing for three years, every day, you should be strong. Of course you have to be… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
Every writer has his writing technique - what he can and can't do to describe something like war or history. I'm not… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
There's not much you can do about time - it just keeps on passing. But experience? Don't tell me that. I'm not… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
Since I'm a novelist I'm the opposite of you - I believe that what's most important is what cannot be measured. I'm… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
Like most novelists, I like to do exactly the opposite of what I'm told. It's in my nature as a novelist. Novelists… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
It is however, difficult to make your narratives relative by yourself. A novelists' work is to provide models to make your narratives… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
"Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg."… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“True, there are those in our league who take even less time. But they don't do any research. They do a handful… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
I want to write stories that are different from the ones I've written so far, Junpei thought: I want to write about… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden. The two processes complement… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“My head is like some ridiculous barn packed full of stuff I want to write about,” she said. “Images, scenes, snatches of… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“Most of what I know about writing I’ve learned through running every day. These are practical, physical lessons. How much can I… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“If I’m asked what the next most important quality is for a novelist, that’s easy too: focus—the ability to concentrate all your… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
I'm a writer, not a professional runner. It's fun and it helps me write. I need powerful concentration. — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“They knew the difference between thoroughness and overkill. It was like Jay Gatsby's library: the books were real, but the pages were… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“Urging others to read F. Scott Fitzgerald, if not a reactionary act, was not something one could do in 1968.” — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
Perhaps I'm just too painstaking a type of person, but I can't grasp much of anything without putting down my thoughts in… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
A deserted library in the morning - there's something about it that really gets to me. All possible words and ideas are… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“That's how it is with art. Mere humans who root through their refrigerators at three o'clock in the morning are incapable of… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“No matter how much enthusiasm and effort you put into writing, if you totally lack literary talent you can forget about being… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“To be able to talk to your heart's content about a book you like with someone is one of the greatest joys… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
When I start to write, I don't have any plan at all. I just wait for the story to come. — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
I just wanted to write something about running, but I realized that to write about my running is to write about my… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
Writing is fun - at least mostly. I write for four hours every day. After that I go running. As a rule,… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“With my eyes closed, I would touch a familiar book and draw its fragrance deep inside me. This was enough to make… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“Most people probably didn't think I'd make it as a professional writer. But I couldn't follow their advice.” — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
I had no ambition to be a writer because the books I read were too good, my standards were too high. — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
I'm not a fast reader. I like to linger over each sentence, enjoying the style. If I don't enjoy the writing, I… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
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,… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden. — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...” — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.” — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
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… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow. — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities” — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“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,… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“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… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“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… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“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… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“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… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share
“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about” — Haruki Murakami Copy Share