You are 27 or 28 right? It is very tough to live at that age. When nothing is sure. I have sympathy with you.
Haruki MurakamiRead
Your heart is like a great river after a long spell of rain, spilling over its banks. All signposts that once stood on the ground are gone, inundated and carried away by that rush of water. And still the rain beats down on the surface of the river. Every time you see a flood like that on the news you tell yourself: That’s it. That’s my heart.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses the overwhelming nature of love and emotions, likening them to a flood that can wash away everything in its path.
Haruki Murakami uses the metaphor of a great river overflowing its banks to illustrate the intensity of emotions that can arise from love. The imagery of signposts being washed away signifies how love can lead to the loss of previous guidance or certainty, creating a powerful but chaotic emotional experience. The continual rain argues that these feelings persist despite external circumstances, emphasizing the inescapable nature of profound emotions.
Themes
LoveEmotionsHeartFloodIntensityChaos
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a wedding speech to describe the profound feelings of love.
More from Haruki Murakami
All quotes →They take the circuits out of people’s brains that make it possible for them to think for themselves. Their world is like the one that George Orwell depicted in his novel. I’m sure you realize that there are plenty of people who are looking for exactly that kind of brain death. It makes life a lot easier. You don’t have to think about difficult things, just shut up and do what your superiors tell you to do.
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Memories and thoughts age, just as people do. But certain thoughts can never age, and certain memories can never fade.
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I think you still love me, but we can’t escape the fact that I’m not enough for you. I knew this was going to happen. So I’m not blaming you for falling in love with another woman. I’m not angry, either. I should be, but I’m not. I just feel pain. A lot of pain. I thought I could imagine how much this would hurt, but I was wrong.
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Everybody burns out in this world; amateur, pro, it doesn't matter, they all burn out, they all get hurt, the OK guys and the not-OK guys both. That's why everybody takes out a little insurance. I've got some too, here at the bottom of the heap. That way, you manage to survive if you burn out. If you're all by yourself and don't belong anywhere, you go down once, and you're out. Finished.
Haruki MurakamiRead
Life is so uncertain: you never know what could happen. One way to deal with that is to keep your pajamas washed.
Haruki MurakamiRead
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