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Yoko Ogawa Biography

Writer

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“Among the many things that made the Professor an excellent teacher was the fact that he wasn't afraid to say 'we don't know.' For the Professor, there was no shame in admitting you didn't have the answer, it was a necessary step toward the truth. It was as important to teach us about the unknown or the unknowable as it was to teach us what had already been safely proven.”

WisdomTruthKnowledgeKnowingTeachingNot Knowing
Book:The Housekeeper and the Professor
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“For a torture to be effective, the pain has to be spread out; it has to come at regular intervals, with no end in sight. The water falls , drop after drop after drop, like the second hand of a watch, carving up time. The shock of each individual drop is insignificant, but the sensation is impossible to ignore. At first, one might manage to think about other things, but after five hours, after ten hours, it becomes unendurable. The repeated stimulation excites the nerves to a point where they literally explode, and every sensation in the body is absorbed into that one spot on the forehead---indeed, you come to feel that you are nothing but a forehead, into which a fine needle is being forced millimeter by millimeter. You can’t sleep or even speak, hypnotized by a suffering that is greater than any mere pain. In general, the victim goes mad before a day has passed.”

PainSufferingMadnessMiseryCrueltyTortureUnhappinessTormentSadism
Book:Revenge
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“Solving a problem for which you know there’s an answer is like climbing a mountain with a guide, along a trail someone else has laid. In mathematics, the truth is somewhere out there in a place no one knows, beyond all the beaten paths. And it’s not always at the top of the mountain. It might be in a crack on the smoothest cliff or somewhere deep in the valley.”

KnowsProblemMightAnswersPathTruth IsMountainMathematicsGuidesCracksClimbingValleysBeatenTrailsCliffsClimbing MountainSomewhere Out ThereBeaten Path
Book:The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel
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“The truly correct proof is one that strikes a harmonious balance between strength and flexibility. There are plenty of proofs that are technically correct but are messy and inelegant or counterintuitive. But it's not something you can put into words - explaining why a formula is beautiful is like trying to explain why the stars are beautiful.”

TryingBeautifulStarsBalanceStrikesProofPlentyFormulasFlexibilityExplainingMessyHarmonious
Book:The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel
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