The power to concentrate was the most important thing. Living without this power would be like opening one’s eyes without seeing anything.

I get irritated, I get upset. Especially when I'm in a hurry. But I see it all as part of our training. To get irritated is to lose our way in life.

She curled up and pressed her cheek against his chest. Her ear was right above his heart. She was listening to his thoughts. "I need to know this," Aomame said. "That we're in the same world, seeing the same things.

The little things are important, Mr. Wind-Up Bird.

The rain that fell on the city runs down the dark gutters and empties into the sea without even soaking the ground

I didn't start running because somebody asked me to become a runner. Just like I didn't become a novelist because someone asked me to. One day, out of the blue, I wanted to write a novel. And one day, out of the blue, I started to run-simply because I wanted to. I've always done whatever I felt like doing in life. People may try to stop me, and convince me I'm wrong, but I won't change.

It was a short one-paragraph item in the morning edition.