If, as the dowager had said, we are nothing but gene carriers, why do so many of us have to lead such strangely shaped lives? Wouldn't our genetic purpose-to transmit DNA-be served just as well if we lived simple lives, not bothering our heads with a lot of extraneous thoughts, devoted entirely to preserving life and procreating? Did it benefit the genes in any way for us to lead such intricately warped, even bizarre, lives?

Dreams come from the past, not from the future. Dreams shouldn't control you--you should control them.

What I want is for the two of us to meet somewhere by chance one day, like, passing on the street, or getting on the same bus.

It is very simple, actually. It is because you and Tengo were so powerfully drawn to each other.

To know one’s own state is not a simple matter. One cannot look directly at one’s own face with one’s own eyes, for example. One has no choice but to look at one’s reflection in the mirror. Through experience, we come to believe that the image is correct, but that is all.

I am worrying about my country. I feel I have a responsibility as a novelist to do something.

A friend to kill time is a friend sublime.