Tsukuru nodded. “Life’s moving along smoothly, then.” “I don’t know about smoothly, but it’s moving along, at least. ‘There’s no going back now’ might be another way of putting it.
If I relaxed my body now, I’d fall apart. I’ve always lived like this, and it’s the only way I know how to go on living. If I relaxed for a second, I’d never find my way back.
That’s not hard work. It’s just manual labour,” Nagasawa said with finality. “The “hard work’ I’m talking about is more self-directed and purposeful.
Mr. Kino, you’re not the type who would willingly do something wrong. I know that very well. But there are times in this world when it’s not enough just not to do the wrong thing. Some people use that blank space as a kind of loophole.
Don’t worry, it’s only death. Don’t let it bother you.
The cook hates the waiter, and they both hate the customer,” Haida said. “A line from the Arnold Wesker play The Kitchen. People whose freedom is taken away always end up hating somebody. Right? I know I don’t want to live like that.
The sky both exists and doesn’t exist. It has substance and at the same time doesn’t. And we merely accept that vast expanse and drink it in.
Things can be seen better in the darkness,” he said, as if he had just seen into her mind. “But the longer you spend in the dark, the harder it becomes to return to the world aboveground where the light is. You have to call a stop to it at some point.
I’ve chosen to live – and to live the best I know how.
The truth is a symbol, and symbols are the truth. It is best to grasp symbols the way they are. There’s no logic or facts, no pig’s belly button or ant’s balls. When people try to use a method other than the truth to follow along the path of understanding, it is like trying to use a sieve to hold water.
There’s a void inside me, a blank that’s slowly expanding, devouring what’s left of who I am. I can hear it happening. I’m totally lost, my identity dying.
Tsukuru’s mind grew still and tranquil. A quiet feeling, like a frozen tree on a windless winter night. But there was little pain mixed in. Over the years Tsukuru had grown used to this mental image, so much so that it no longer brought him any particular pain.
People can become accustomed to almost anything, especially when they’re pushed to the limit. It may become surprisingly easy then.
I felt alone, but not especially lonely. I guess I just took that for granted.
People have to get out sometimes – have something good to eat, have some drinks, belt out some songs, talk about nothing in particular.
Muscles are like work animals that are quick on the uptake. If you carefully increase the load, step by step, they learn to take it. As long as you explain your expectations to them by actually showing them examples of the amount of work they have to endure, your muscles will comply and gradually get stronger.
Danger comes the moment you relax.
How many girls has he slept with?” “It’s probably up to eighty now,” I said. “But in his case, the higher the numbers go, the less each individual act seems to mean. Which is what I think he’s trying to accomplish.
But metaphors can reduce the distance... metaphors help eliminate what separates you and me.
It’s no fun growing old, no fun at all. The drawers where you store memories get harder to open.