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“I’ll never see them again. I know that. And they know that. And knowing this, we say farewell.”

- Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

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"It was only later, after he boarded the direct flight back to Narita and had buckled his seat belt, that the words came, the words he should have said. The right words always seemed to come too late."

- Haruki Murakami, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

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“Everybody has to start somewhere. You have your whole future ahead of you. Perfection doesn't happen right away.” 

― Haruki Murakami, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

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“So what can I do now?" she spoke up a minute later.

"Nothing," I said. "Just think about what comes before words. You owe that to the dead. As time goes on, you'll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn't, doesn't. Time solves most things. And what time can't solve, you have to solve yourself. Is that too much to ask?"

―    Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance 

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“But if something did happen, it happened. Whether it's right or wrong. I accept everything that happens, and that's how I became the person I am now.” 

―    Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore    

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“With each passing moment I'm becoming part of the past. There is no future for me, just the past steadily accumulating.” 

― Haruki Murakami, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

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“For a long time, she held a special place in my heart. I kept this special place just for her, like a "Reserved" sign on a quiet corner table in a restaurant. Despite the fact that I was sure I'd never see her again.” 

― Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun

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“I'd be smiling and chatting away, and my mind would be floating around somewhere else, like a balloon with a broken string.” 

― Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

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私は今日本語がちょっとだけ話せますから、質問は……英語ですね。

Murakami-san, I would like to ask: how does one fall in love?

（夢、男性、24歳、大学生）

Basically it’s an accidental collision. It is unpredictable and inescapable. So, always fasten your seatbelt.

- hm

source: haruki murakami's advice column

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“Waiting for the perfect love?” “No, even I know better than that. I’m looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortcake. And you stop everything you’re doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortcake out to me. And I say I don’t want it anymore and throw it out the window. That’s what I’m looking for.” “I’m not sure that has anything to do with love,” I said with some amazement. “It does,” she said. “You just don’t know it. There are time in a girl’s life when things like that are incredibly important.” “Things like throwing strawberry shortcake out the window?” “Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologize to me. “Now I see, Midori. What a fool I have been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortcake. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I’ll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate Mousse? Cheesecake?” “So then what?” “So then I’d give him all the love he deserves for what he’s done.” “Sounds crazy to me.” “Well, to me, that’s what love is…”

― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

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“Spend your money on the things money can buy. Spend your time on the things money can’t buy.” 

― Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

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Haruki Murakami is known for his fondness for cats because he frequently includes felines in his works.

In “Murakami Harukido wa ikanishite kitaeraretaka,” a collection of essays, Murakami tells an interesting story about a cat in its old age he once kept.

In a piece titled “Choju Neko no Himitsu” (The secret of an old cat), Murakami described how he asked a senior executive at Kodansha Ltd., a publishing company, to take care of his cat while he and his wife were away from home for a long period. In return, Murakami promised to the executive to write a novel for the company. The writer kept his promise and wrote “Norwegian Wood,” which turned out to be a phenomenal bestseller.

Murakami named the cat “Fuku Neko” (Lucky Cat). 

- Koji Konishi, Commentary / Hanshinkan Kid (7): Haruki Murakami's love for cats comes through in his works

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“No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.” 

― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

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“Memory is a funny thing. When I was in the scene, I hardly paid it any mind. I never stopped to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression, certainly never imagined that eighteen years later I would recall it in such detail. I didn't give a damn about the scenery that day. I was thinking about myself. I was thinking about the beautiful girl walking next to me. I was thinking about the two of us together, and then about myself again. It was the age, that time of life when every sight, every feeling, every thought came back, like a boomerang, to me. And worse, I was in love. Love with complications. The scenery was the last thing on my mind.” 

― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

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“To tell the truth, I don’t really understand the causes behind my runner’s blues. Or why now it’s beginning to fade. It’s too early to explain it well. Maybe the only thing I can definitely say about it is this: That’s life. Maybe the only thing we can do is accept it, without really knowing what’s going on. Like taxes, the tide rising and falling, John Lennon’s death, and miscalls by referees at the World Cup.” 

― Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

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“I have a million things to talk to you about. All I want in this world is you. I want to see you and talk. I want the two of us to begin everything from the beginning.” 

― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

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“If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets.” 

― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore