There are lots of things we never understand, no matter how many years we put on, no matter how much experience we accumulate.

Having an object that symbolizes freedom might make a person happier than actually getting the freedom it represents.

The thoughts that occur to me while I’m running are like clouds in the sky. Clouds of all different sizes. They come and they go, while the sky remains the same sky always. The clouds are mere guests in the sky that pass away and vanish, leaving behind the sky.

If you never noticed, it never happened.

[But] we accept irony through a device called metaphor. And through that we grow and become deeper human beings.

I read Naoko's letter again and again, and each time I read it I would be filled with the same unbearable sadness I used to feel whenever Naoko stared into my eyes. I had no way to deal with it, no place I could take it to or hide it away. Like the wind passing over my body, it had neither shape nor weight, nor could I wrap myself in it.

Did you ever see anyone shot by a gun without bleeding?