Listen up—there’s no war that will end all wars,’ Crow tells me. ‘War breeds war. Lapping up the blood shed by violence, feeding on wounded flesh. War is a perfect, self-contained being. You need to know that.

I didn't read so much Japanese literature. Because my father was a teacher of Japanese literature, I just wanted to do something else.

In other words, let's face it: Life is basically unfair. But even in a situation that's unfair, I think it's possible to seek out a kind of fairness. Of course, that might take time and effort. And maybe it won't seem to be worth all that. It's up to each individual to decide whether or not it is.

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.

The world in books seemed so much more alive to me than anything outside. I could see things I'd never seen before. Books and music were my best friends. I had a couple of good friends at school, but never met anyone I could really speak my heart to.

Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory.

Not everything was lost in the flow of time