I'm not human. I'm a piece of machinery. I don't need to feel a thing. Just forge on ahead.

It's easy to forget things you don't need anymore.

I started writing at the kitchen table after midnight. It took ten months to finish that first book; I sent it to a publisher and I got some kind of prize, so it was like a dream - I was surprised to find it happening.

So many dreams, so many disappointments, so many promises. And in the end, they all just vanish.

It's a quiet place, so people talk quietly," said Naoko. She made a neat pile of fish bones at the edge of her plate and dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief. "There's no need to raise your voice here. You don't have to convince anybody of anything, and you don't have to attract anyone's attention.

I can be hurt, you know. I can get as exhausted as anybody else. I can feel so bad I want to cry, too.

The ocean was one of the greatest things he had ever seen in his life—bigger and deeper than anything he had imagined. It changed its color and shape and expression according to time and place and weather. It aroused a deep sadness in his heart, and at the same time it brought his heart peace and comfort.