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Banana Yoshimoto

Banana Yoshimoto Quotes

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Famous Banana Yoshimoto Quotes

“Preparavo l'apertura, facevo le pulizie, sopportavo la fatica fisica e combattevo la stanchezza. Minimizzavo i pensieri legati al futuro. Mi sforzavo di risolvere le piccole seccature, pensavo alle cose positive, cercavo di non aspettarmi improbabili periodi di grande lavoro, risolvevo i problemi in modo realistico...”

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Book:Il coperchio del mare
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“It was true; for some reason I wanted terribly to see Urara. That expression on her face - it made my heart stop. She had been gentle and smiling with me, and then, as soon as she was alone again, she… if I had to describe it, I’d say the expression on her face was like that of a demon turned into a human who suddenly caught herself feeling emotions and was warning herself that she wasn’t permitted to. It was unforgettable. I felt that my own pain and sadness had never even come close to hers. Perhaps there was still much worse in store for me.”

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Book:Kitchen
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“It was only after my head started reeling and my body started weaving and I tumbled into bed that I'd hear that soothing voice singing...The reverbations of that voice wandered sweetly, softly, working like a massage on the area of my heart that was the most tightly clenched, helping those knots to loosen. It was like the rush of waves, and like the laughter of people I'd met in all kinds of places, people I'd become friendly with and then separated from, and like the kind words all those people had said to me, and like the mewing of a cat I had lost, and like the mixture of noises that rang in the background in a place that was dear to me, a place far away, a place that no longer existed, and like the rushing of trees that whisked past my ears as I breathed in a scent of fresh greenery on a trip someplace... the voice was like a combination of all this.”

Sleep
Book:Asleep
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“Ultimately, though, it's living people that frighten me the most. It's always seemed to me that nothing could be scarier than a person, because as dreadful places can be, they're still just places; and no matter how awful ghosts might seem, they're just dead people. I always thought that the most terrifying things anyone could ever think up were the things living people came up with.”

PeopleThinkingPersonsStillsMatterSeemsMightGhostAwfulDead People
Book:Hardboiled: & Hard Luck
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“Even when I try to stir myself up, I just get irritated because I can't make anything come out. And in the middle of the night I lie here thinking about all this. If I don't get back on track somehow, I'm dead, that's the sense I get. There isn't a single strong emotion inside me.”

IfsThinkingTryingI CanLyingNightStrongEmotionMiddleDepressionTrackEmptinessGet BackDetachmentBecause I CanMiddle Of The NightIrritatedNumbnessBack On TrackStrong Emotions
Book:Goodbye Tsugumi
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“In places where a loved one has died, time stops for eternity. If I stand on the very spot, one says to oneself, like a prayer, might I feel the pain he felt? They say that on a visit to an old castle or whatever, the history of the place, the presence of people who walked there many years ago, can be felt in the body. Before, when I heard things like that, I would think, what are they talking about? But i felt I understood it now.”

PeopleIfsThinkingFeelsYearsBodyMightPainFeltPrayerTalkingHeardUnderstoodYears AgoEternityDiedOneselfSpotsLoved OnesCastles
Book:Three plays
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“From the bottom of my heart, I wanted to give up; I wanted to give up on living. There was no denying that tomorrow would come, and the day after tomorrow, and so next week, too. I never thought it would be this hard, but I would go on living in the midst of a glomy depression, and that made me feel sick to the depths of my soul. In spite of the tempest raging within me, I walked the night path calmly.”

GivingFeelsHeartMadeSoulHardWould BeWantedNightNextPathWeekGoes OnTomorrowMy HeartGiving UpSickDepthBottomRageMy SoulSpiteMidstTempestNext Week
Book:Three plays
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“We ran into lots of old friends. Friends from elementary school, junior high school, high school. Everyone had matured in their own way, and even as we stood face to face with them they seemed like people from dreams, sudden glimpses through the fences of our tangled memories. We smiled and waved, exchanged a few words, and then walked on in our separate directions.”

PeopleWayDreamSchoolFacesMemoriesHigh SchoolRanFenceGlimpseJuniorsFace To FaceOld FriendsTangledFew WordsElementary SchoolJunior HighMaturedHigh School Junior
Book:Goodbye Tsugumi
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“For ten years I had been protected, wrapped up in something like a blanket that had been stitched together from all kinds of different things. But people never notice that warmth until after they've emerged. You don't even notice that you've been inside until it's too late for you ever to go back-- that's how perfect the temperature of that blanket is.”

PeopleYearsKindDifferentTogetherPerfectTenLateAll KindsToo LateDifferent ThingsWarmthProtectedTemperatureBlanket
Book:Goodbye Tsugumi
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“So, have you been enjoying yourself these days, Kazami?' I'm having lots of fun.' It was true. That made the sense of regret even keener, that this time in my life would soon be a thing of the past. I felt as if I could understand a little of what my mother had been through, and the feelings she may have had at different times. I wasn't a child anymore, and this made me feel awfully lonesome, and utterly alone.”

IfsFeelsMayChildrenLittlesMadeDifferentFeelingsPastMotherFunFeltEnjoyRegretThese DaysIf I CouldDifferent TimesLonesome
Book:N.P.: A Novel
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“Chilled-looking people walking along the riverside, the snow beginning, faintly, to pile up on the roofs of cars, the bare trees shaking their heads left and right, dry leaves tossing in the wind. The silver of the metal window sash sparkling coldly. Soon after, I heard sensei call, "Mikage! Are you awake? It's snowing, look! It's snowing!" "I'm coming!" I called out, standing up. I got dressed to begin another day. Over and over, we begin again.”

PeopleLooksLeftHeardTreeCarWindWalkingStandingWindowSnowAwakeDrySilverMetalsRoofShakingAnother DaySparklingBegin AgainLeft And RightSenseiChilledDry LeavesRiversideBare Trees
Book:Kitchen
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“With a cold"--she spoke evenly, lowering her eyes a little--"now is the hardest time. Maybe even harder than dying. But this is probably as bad as it can get. You might come to fear the next time you get a cold; it will be as bad as this, but if you just hold steady, it won't be. For the rest of your life. That's how it works. You could take the negative view and live in fear: Will it happen again? But it won't hurt so much if you just accept it as a part of life." With that she looked up at me, smiling.”

IfsLittlesMightHappensEyeNextHurtViewsAcceptingDyingColdNegativeHarderHardestSpokesSteadyHer EyesNext TimeRest Of Your LifeParts Of LifeHurt So MuchHardest Times
Book:Kitchen
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“There are many days when all the awful things that happen make you sick at heart, when the path before you is so steep you can’t bear to look. Not even love can rescue a person from that. Still, enveloped in the twilight coming from the west, there she was, watering the plants with her slender, graceful hands, in the midst of a light so sweet it seemed to form a rainbow in the transparent water she poured.”

LooksHeartPersonsStillsHandsLightHappensFormWaterPathSweetBearsSickPlantWestAwfulMidstTwilightRescueRainbowTransparentSteepSlender
Book:Three plays
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“No one can survive childhood without being wounded. Everyone remembers at least one time when their parents rejected them, pushed them away, even though they may have still been in the womb, blind, and unable to speak. That's why, as adults, we all look for someone to become our parents again, and for someone to look after us in times of need. And we search for a person to live with who can provide the companionship we so desperately want.”

WantNeedsLooksMayPersonsStillsRememberSpeakParentChildhoodAdultsBlindOne TimeRejectedWoundedCompanionshipWombTime Of Need
Author:Banana Yoshimoto
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“At that moment I had a thrilling sharp intuition. I knew it as if I held it in my hands: In the gloom of death that surrounded the two of us, we were just at the point of approaching and negotiating a gentle curve. If we bypassed it, we would split off into different directions. In that case, we would forever remain just friends.”

IfsTwoDifferentMomentsHandsCasesForeverIntuitionGentleThat MomentSplitsCurvesThrillingGloomDifferent DirectionsNegotiatingTwo Of UsJust Friends
Author:Banana Yoshimoto
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