- Overall reminded me a lot of , Murakami is absolutley the creative force in his own lifeThe Path of Least Resistance
- owned a bar until age 33, took a long time to get to profitability and then when it finally did he quit to write a novel, the rest is history
- one thing he says is #1 important thing is talent, despite how the entire book is on focus and discipline
Quotes etc
- The fact that Im me and no one else is one of my greatest assets. Emotional hurt is the price a person has to be pay in order to be independent (19)
- Well their predictions were totally off. To tell the truth, I didn't think I had much aptitude for business either. I just figured though, that since failure was not an option, I'd have to give it everything I had (25)
- I was more interested in having it finished than whether or not it would ever see the light of day (28)
- If I failed, I could accept that, but i knew if i did it halfheartedly and they didnt work, id always have regrets (31)
- Focus in morning. Busy work afternoon. Then no work, relax. (37)
- The main thing was not speed or distance so much as running every day, without taking a break (39)
- The Body is an extremely practical system, you have to let it experience intermittent pain over time, and thent he body will get the point. Doing it gradually is important so you dont burn out (51)
- No. Forget about the beer. Forget about the sun. Forget about the wind. Forget about the article I have to write. Just focus on moving my feet forward, one after the other. That's the only thing that matters. (64)
- Nothing in the real world is as beautiful as the illusions of a person about to lose consciousness (66)
- The total amount of running may be going down, but at least im following on of my basic rules of running: dont take two days off in a row (71)
- I have only a few reasons to keep running, and a truckload of them to quit. All I can do is keep those few reasons nicely polished (73)
- Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If youre going to while away the years, its far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive than in a fog, and I believe running helps you do that (83)
- You make do with what you have. As you age you even learn to be happy with what you have. Thats one of the few good points of growing older (86)
- English is not my forte. But that makes me feel all the more comfortable giving a speech. I just think, its a foreign language, so what can you do? (101)
- Break one of my rules once, and Im bound to break many more. And if I'd done that, it would have been next to impossible to finish the race (111)
- The end of the race is just a temporary marker without much significance. It's the same with our lives. Just because there is an end doesn't mean existence has meaning (115)
- One reason I'm reluctant when it comes to bicycling is that a bike is a kind of tool. You need a helmet, bike shoes, and all sorts of other accouterments, and you have to maintain all the parts and equipment (137)
- It isnt always the case, but Id say from experience the gloomy reports far outnumber the others...the boss delivering those reports...that would be none other than our old friend Reality (145)
- Naturally the responsibility for checking my shoelaces before the race lies entirely with yours truly (170)
- Its precisely because of the pain, precisely because we wnat to overcome that pain, that we can get the feeling, through this process, of really being alive - or at least a partial sense of it. (171)
- To be able to grasp something of value, sometimes you have to perform seemingly inefficient acts (172)
- For a runner like me, what's really important is reaching the goal I set myself, under my own power. I give it everything I have, endure what needs enduring, and am able, in my own way, to be satisfied. (173)