Perhaps most people in the world arenโt trying to be free, Kafka. They just think they are. Itโs all an illusion. If they really were set free, most people would be in a real pickle. Youโd better remember that. People actually prefer not being free?
Haruki MurakamiBut this thing, whatever it was, this mistlike something, hung there inside my body like a certain kind of potential. I wanted to give it a name, but the word refused to come to mind. Iโm terrible at finding the right words for things. Iโm sure Tolstoy would have been able to come up with exactly the right word
Haruki MurakamiStrange and mysterious things, though, aren't they - earthquakes? We take it for granted that the earth beneath our feet is solid and stationary. We even talk about people being 'down to earth' or having their feet firmly planted on the ground. But suddenly one day we see that it isn't true. The earth, the boulders, that are supposed to be solid, all of a sudden turn as mushy as liquid - From the short story "Thailand
Haruki MurakamiBut I didn't walk a single step. I stopped a lot to stretch, but I never walked. I didn't come here to walk. I came to run. That's the reason-the only reason-I flew all the way to the northern tip of Japan. No matter how slow I might run, I wasn't about to walk. That was the rule.
Haruki Murakami