337 Quotes by Banana Yoshimoto

She was still there inside me now, just as she always was: a life put on hold, a memory I didn’t know how to handle.

My fury was lofty, pure, cool. It was an emotion that none of these people, struggling so hard to impose a shape on life when life has no shape, could begin to understand.

To the extent that I had come to understand that despair does not necessarily result in annihilation, that one can go on as usual in spite of it, I had become hardened. Was this what it means to be an adult, to live with ugly ambiguities? I didn’t like it, but it made it easier to go on.

We’ve been very lonely, but we had it easy. Because death is so heavy – we, too young to know about it, couldn’t handle it. After this you and I may end up seeing nothing but suffering, difficulty and ugliness, but if only you’ll agree to it, I want for us to go on to more difficult places, happier places, what ever comes, together. I want you to make the decision after you’re completely better, so take your time thinking about it. In the mean time, though, don’t disappear on me.

I can’t imagine a life without a story.

Now only the kitchen and I are left. It’s just a little nicer than being all alone.

There are many, many difficult times, god knows. If a person wants to stand on her own two feet, I recommend undertaking the care and feeding of something. It could be children, or it could be house plants, you know? By doing that you come to understand your own limitations. That’s where it starts.

That’s the advantage of insomnia. People who go to be early always complain that the night is too short, but for those of us who stay up all night, it can feel as long as a lifetime. You get a lot done.

When there’s a plus, there’s always a minus. If there’s a powerful light, the darkness that is its opposite will be just as strong.