I spent thirty-three years in another man's shadow. I went everywhere he went, I helped him with everything he did. I was in a sense a part of him. When you live like that for a long time, you gradually lose track of what it is you yourself really want out of life

Be fearless, be brave, be bold, love yourself

Reaching the finish line, never walking, and enjoying the race. These three, in this order, are my goals.

One impossible day, of an impossible month, of an impossible year.

Exhaustion pays no mind to age or beauty. Like rain and earthquakes and hail and floods.

When I was a teenager, I thought how great it would be if only I could write novels in English. I had the feeling that I would be able to express my emotions so much more directly than if I wrote in Japanese.

But I didn't understand then. That I could hurt somebody so badly she would never recover. That a person can, just by living, damage another human being beyond repair.