--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After I gave up sleeping, it occurred to…" description: "\"“After I gave up sleeping, it occurred to me what a simple thing reality is, how easy it is to make it work. It’s just reality. Just housework. Just a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/haruki-murakami-21_quote_after-i-gave-up-sleeping-it-occurred-to_1494824.jpg" --- # After I gave up sleeping, it occurred to me what a simple… ![“After I gave up sleeping, it occurred to me what a simple thing reality is, how easy it is to make it work. It’s just reality. Just housework. Just a home. Like running a simple machine. Once you learn to run it, it’s just a matter of repetition. You push this button and pull that lever. You…” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/haruki-murakami-21_quote_after-i-gave-up-sleeping-it-occurred-to_1494824.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/haruki-murakami-21_quote_after-i-gave-up-sleeping-it-occurred-to_1494824.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/haruki-murakami-21_quote_after-i-gave-up-sleeping-it-occurred-to_1494824.jpg) > ““After I gave up sleeping, it occurred to me what a simple thing reality is, how easy it is to make it work. It’s just reality. Just housework. Just a home. Like running a simple machine. Once you learn to run it, it’s just a matter of repetition. You push this button and pull that lever. You adjust a gauge, put on the lid, set the timer. The same thing, over and over.”” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life can be approached like a routine machine: simple actions repeated create reality. **In simple terms:** Reality is a series of repeatable tasks. Key Takeaway Treat daily habits as mechanisms to shape life. Themes routine habit mindset productivity Mood reflective calm Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal productivity - creative work - health routines - learning new skills Key Concepts mechanical metaphor repetition control Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance routine with creativity? - What simple habit could transform your day? A Different Perspective May become overly mechanistic, ignoring spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Housework](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housework/) ## Related quotes > [it occurred to me what a simple thing reality is, how easy it is to make it work. It's just reality. Just housework. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/it-occurred-to-me-what-a-simple-thing-reality-is-how-easy-it-is-to/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [My wife, there's certain kinds of housework that she just doesn't see as necessary to do in the way that I do. Things like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/my-wife-there-s-certain-kinds-of-housework-that-she-just-doesn-t-see/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [My approach is to start from the straightforward principle that our body is a machine. A very complicated machine, but none the less a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/my-approach-is-to-start-from-the-straightforward-principle-that-our/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [It is easy to make a simple machine which will run toward the light or run away from it, and if such machines also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/it-is-easy-to-make-a-simple-machine-which-will-run-toward-the-light/) [Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/) > [Reality is easy. It's deception that's the hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauryn-hill/reality-is-easy-it-s-deception-that-s-the-hard-work/) [Lauryn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauryn-hill/) > [A tool is usually more simple than a machine; it is generally used with the hand, whilst a machine is frequently moved by animal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-babbage/a-tool-is-usually-more-simple-than-a-machine-it-is-generally-used/) [Charles Babbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-babbage/) > [“Reality is an easy commodity in the Front Range. There's weather, and there are animals that are thinking about eating you, and there's all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-dederer/reality-is-an-easy-commodity-in-the-front-range-there-s-weather-and/) [Claire Dederer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-dederer/) > [Reality is not easy, but all this make-believe doesn't make it easier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/reality-is-not-easy-but-all-this-make-believe-doesn-t-make-it-easier/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [A wife is just an attachment men screw on the bed to get the housework done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/a-wife-is-just-an-attachment-men-screw-on-the-bed-to-get-the/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [The scorn men express for a male who does housework is exceeded only by their aversion to a woman who doesn't](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-kome/the-scorn-men-express-for-a-male-who-does-housework-is-exceeded-only/) Penny Kome > [I feel domesticity just slipping off me. It is a choice. Either one can let it go or one can intensify it. The people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/i-feel-domesticity-just-slipping-off-me-it-is-a-choice-either-one-can/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Composing a piece of music is very feminine. It is sensitive, emotional, contemplative. By comparison, doing housework is positively masculine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kolb/composing-a-piece-of-music-is-very-feminine-it-is-sensitive-emotional/) Barbara Kolb > [I was born imagining myself with an apron on, with pies cooling on the window sill and babies crying upstairs. I thought that all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-was-born-imagining-myself-with-an-apron-on-with-pies-cooling-on-the/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [The extraordinary woman depends on the ordinary woman. It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## 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. 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It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I was born imagining myself with an apron on, with pies cooling on the window sill and babies crying upstairs. I thought that all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-was-born-imagining-myself-with-an-apron-on-with-pies-cooling-on-the/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [Composing a piece of music is very feminine. It is sensitive, emotional, contemplative. By comparison, doing housework is positively masculine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kolb/composing-a-piece-of-music-is-very-feminine-it-is-sensitive-emotional/) Barbara Kolb > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [I feel domesticity just slipping off me. It is a choice. Either one can let it go or one can intensify it. The people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/i-feel-domesticity-just-slipping-off-me-it-is-a-choice-either-one-can/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [The scorn men express for a male who does housework is exceeded only by their aversion to a woman who doesn't](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-kome/the-scorn-men-express-for-a-male-who-does-housework-is-exceeded-only/) Penny Kome > [A wife is just an attachment men screw on the bed to get the housework done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/a-wife-is-just-an-attachment-men-screw-on-the-bed-to-get-the/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Fearless--the cobweb swings from the ceiling-- Indolent Housewife--in Daisies--lain!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/fearless-the-cobweb-swings-from-the-ceiling-indolent-housewife-in/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Anyone can see that to write Uncle Tom's Cabin on the knee in the kitchen, with constant calls to cooking and other details of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-garlin-spencer/anyone-can-see-that-to-write-uncle-tom-s-cabin-on-the-knee-in-the/) [Anna Garlin Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-garlin-spencer/) > [Housework, if it is done properly, can cause brain damage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/housework-if-it-is-done-properly-can-cause-brain-damage/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [Housework's the hardest work in the world. That's why men won't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/housework-s-the-hardest-work-in-the-world-that-s-why-men-won-t-do-it/) [Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/) > [This I know for a fact: the reason African women have children is so that there's someone else to do the housework.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-aaronovitch/this-i-know-for-a-fact-the-reason-african-women-have-children-is-so/) [Ben Aaronovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-aaronovitch/) > [I made a very slatternly mother, notably unkeen on housework, unaware that homes need to be cleaned now and then, and too often to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/i-made-a-very-slatternly-mother-notably-unkeen-on-housework-unaware/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [ The division \[between how much housework men and women do\] is declining across all advanced economies - not for the reasons that people want,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-marche/the-division-between-how-much-housework-men-and-women-do-is-declining/) [Stephen Marche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-marche/) > [There is the problem of unpaid labor, such as housework, which represents millions and millions of unsalaried work hours and on which masculine society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/there-is-the-problem-of-unpaid-labor-such-as-housework-which/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) [Browse all 219 Housework quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housework/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“After I gave up sleeping, it occurred to me what a simple thing reality is, how easy it is to make it work. 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