I began running on an everyday basis after I became a writer. As being a writer requires sitting at a desk for hours a day, without getting some exercise you’d quickly get out of shape and gain weight, I figured. – Haruki Murakami
When I am writing, I do not distinguish between the natural and supernatural. Everything seems real. That is my world, you could say. – Haruki Murakami
You know, if you are kind of rich, the best thing is that you don’t have to think about money. The best thing you can buy with money is freedom, time. I don’t know how much I earn a year. I have no idea. I don’t know how much I pay in taxes. – Haruki Murakami
I don’t want to express my opinion about actual politics, because if I do, I have to be responsible for my decision. – Haruki Murakami
George Orwell is half journalist, half fiction writer. I’m 100 percent fiction writer… I don’t want to write messages. I want to write good stories. I think of myself as a political person, but I don’t state my political messages to anybody. – Haruki Murakami
Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be individual. – Haruki Murakami
I had my jazz club and I had enough money. So I didn’t have to write for my living. – Haruki Murakami
I know how fiction matters to me, because if I want to express myself, I have to make up a story. Some people call it imagination. To me, it’s not imagination. It’s just a way of watching. – Haruki Murakami
I didn’t want to be a writer, but I became one. And now I have many readers, in many countries. I think that’s a miracle. So I think I have to be humble regarding this ability. I’m proud of it and I enjoy it, and it is strange to say it this way, but I respect it. – Haruki Murakami
As long as possible, I would really like to complete one marathon per year. Though my time has been slowing down as I get older, it has become a very important part of my life. – Haruki Murakami
For me, writing a novel is like having a dream. Writing a novel lets me intentionally dream while I’m still awake. I can continue yesterday’s dream today, something you can’t normally do in everyday life. – Haruki Murakami
I lost some of my friends because I got so famous, people who just assumed that I would be different now. I felt like everyone hated me. That is the most unhappy time of my life. – Haruki Murakami