“Poverty and loneliness could be seen as a liberation from strivings to become rich and popular.”

“When I started to learn how to read, I discovered the same kind of power. I could create an environment that I didn't have, and I could order this environment in the way that I couldn't in my actual life. Then, when I learned to write, I learned that I could do this not only for myself, but for other people. I could create whole things that were believable, at least to myself, at that point. And in this way, I began to wield an authority and a power that I had not had before. In other words, every child goes through this. Some pick football and some pick the library. I picked the library.”

“Poverty and loneliness could be seen as a liberation from strivings to become rich and popular.”

“Japan never considers time together as time wasted. Rather, it is time invested.”