Rhaf

“That backpack's like your symbol of freedom," he comments.
"Guess so," I say.
"Having an object that symbolizes freedom might make a person happier than actually getting the freedom it represents."
"Sometimes," I say.
"Sometimes," he repeats. "You know, if they had a contest for the world's shortest replies, you'd win hands down."
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps," Oshima says, as if fed up. "Perhaps most people in the world aren't trying to be free, Kafka. They just think they are. It's all an illusion. If they really were set free, most people would be in a real bind. You'd better remember that. People actually prefer not being free.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

“أشد ساعات اليوم ظلمةً هي تلك التي تسبق طلوع الشمس.”
― باولو كويليو, The Alchemist

“People who's freedom is taken away always end up hating somebody. Right? I know I don't want to live like that.”
― Haruki Murakami, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

“I was confident that I was a special person. But time slowly chips away at life. People don't just die when their time comes. They gradually die away, from the inside. And finally the day comes when you have to settle accounts. Nobody can escape it. People have to pay the price for what they've received. I have only just learned that truth.”
― Haruki Murakami, 1Q84