Life according to Haruki Murakami

On love

'Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who's in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It's like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven't seen in a long time.'

-Kafka on the shore

On the meaning of life

'"Every one of us is losing something precious to us," he says after the phone stops ringing. "Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That's part of what it means to be alive."'

-Kafka on the shore

On parents

'"You must not let fatigue set in," she warns. "That is what my mother said. Let your body work until it is spent, but keep your mind for yourself."'

-Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

On money

‘You've got to spend your money on the things that money can buy, not worry about profit or loss. Save your energy for the things that money can't buy.’

-The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

On death

‘If there's any guy crazy enough to attack me, I'm going to show him the end of the world – close up. I'm going to let him see the kingdom come with his own eyes. I'm going to send him straight to the Southern Hemisphere and let the ashes of death rain all over him and the kangaroos and the wallabies.’

-1Q84