Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

"Wherever there's hope there's a trial."

"Wasn't it better if they kept this desire to see each other hidden within them, and never actually got together? That way, there would always be hope in their hearts. That hope would be a small, yet vital flame that warmed them to their core-- a tiny flame to cup one's hands around and protect from the wind, a flame that the violent winds of reality might easily extinguish."

"Human beings are ultimately nothing but carriers-passageways- for genes. They ride us into the ground like racehorses from generation to generation. Genes don't think about what constitutes good or evil. They don't care whether we are happy or unhappy. We're just means to an end for them. The only thing they think about is what is most efficient for them."

"A person learns how to love himself through the simple acts of loving and being loved by someone else."

"If you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there's salvation in life. Even if you can't get together with that person."

"Life is not like water. Things in life don't necessarily flow over the shortest possible route."

"If you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there's salvation in life. Even if you can't get together with that person."

"I've been lonely for so long. And I've been hurt so deeply. If only I could have met you again a long time ago, then I wouldn't have had to take all these detours to get here.'Tengo shook his head. 'I don't think so. This way is just fine. This is exactly the right time. For both of us. [...] We needed that much time.... to understand how lonely we really were."

"But hell, you've gotta work with what you've got."

"This is what it means to live on. When granted hope, a person uses it as fuel, as a guidepost to life. It is impossible to live without hope."