Annlily

“All of us, more or less, wear masks. Because without masks we can’t survive in this violent world. Beneath an evil-spirit mask lies the natural face of an angel, beneath an angel’s mask lies the face of an evil spirit. It’s impossible to have just one or the other. That’s who we are. And that’s Carnaval. Schumann was able to see the many faces of humanity—the masks and the real faces—because he himself was a deeply divided soul, a person who lived in the stifling gap in between the two.”
― Haruki Murakami, First Person Singular: Stories

“No matter how vivid memories may be, they can’t win out against the power of time.”
― Haruki Murakami, First Person Singular: Stories

“No matter how beautiful a woman might be, she always has imperfections, and likewise no matter how ugly a woman might be, there’s always a part of her that is beautiful.”
― Haruki Murakami, First Person Singular: Stories

“Instead of a stable truth, I choose unstable possibilities.”
― Haruki Murakami, Killing Commendatore