Quotes from Y?ko Ogawa

In the midst of a vast field of numbers, a straight path opened before my eyes.

At first, I was conscious of wanting to please the Professor, but gradually that feeling faded and I realized it had become a battle between the problem and me.

But in a world turned upside down, things I thought were mine and mine alone can be taken away much more easily than I would have imagined.

No one gets the best spot all the time—they have to compromise.

Auf jeden Fall sind Erinnerungen unsichtbar, nicht wahr? Wie wundervoll sie auch sein mögen, sie verschwinden einfach, wenn niemand sie beachtet. Nicht einmal wir selbst sind in der Lage, das wahre Wesen einer Erinnerung zu erfassen. Sie hinterlassen keine Spuren. Es gibt keinen greifbaren Beweis, dass sie wirklich existiert haben.

I'd imagine you'd be uncomfortable, with your heart full of so many forgotten things." "No, that's not really a problem. A heart has no shape, no limits. That's why you can put almost any kind of thing in it, why it can hold so much. It's much like your memory, in that sense.

Don't be silly. I'll just pick you up and carry you, like a princess," he said, holding out his arms toward me.

Ibland sätter jag händerna mot väggen och försöker föreställa mig hur det är utanför. Jag tänker att det kanske kan gå att uppfatta någonting genom händernas beröring med väggen. Sådant som vindriktning, kyla, fukt, platsen du är på, vattnets porlande floden. Men det går aldrig. Väggen är bara en vägg. Det finns ingenting bakom den, den är inte sammankopplad med någonting.

Hur tomt ett hjärta än är försöker det ändå förnimma något.

So you think that zero was there waiting for us when humans came into being, like the flowers and the stars? You should have more respect for human progress. We made the zero, through great pain and struggle.

I remember hearing a saying long ago: 'Men who start by burning books end by burning other men,' " I said.

And no matter how wonderful the memory, it vanishes if you leave it alone, if no one pays attention to it. They leave no trace, no evidence that they ever existed.

När jag blundade lyckades jag få en starkare medvetenhet om tomrummet som uppstått i min kropp. Det var fyllt av fullständigt genomskinligt vatten och inte det minsta lilla minnesfragment fanns kvar där. Hans händer rörde idogt om i det vattnet, men det enda som kom upp var små bubblor. Bubblor som genast sprack alldeles ljudlöst.

If you read a novel to the end, then it's over. I would never want to do something as wasteful as that. I'd much rather keep it here with me, safe and sound, forever.

Varför rymde du inte? Hon hade ju kunnat hjälpa dig härifrån. Då hade du kunnat bli fri", sa han och rörde vid min haka. "Men det gjorde du inte. Du stannade kvar här. Varför det?" Han frågade mig envist om orsaken. Han borde ju veta mycket väl att en människa som har förlorat orden inte kan förklara några orsaker. Vad var det då han krävde av mig? Jag förblev bara alldeles stel.

That's right! The sum of the factors of 220 is 284, and the sum of the factors of 284 is 220. They're called 'amicable numbers,' and they're extremely rare.

Eternal truths are ultimately invisible, and you won't find them in material things or natural phenomenon, or even in human emotions.

In years past, I had carefully studied the stems, leaves, and branches and had read the tags that identified the different varieties, but I realized now that I was already unable to remember what this thing called a rose had looked like.

I wiped my palms together, brushing the petals that had stuck to them back into the stream. Petals with frilled edges, pale ones, vivid ones, petals with the calyx still attached. They all clung for a moment to the bricks of the wash landing, but in no time at all they were caught up in the stream again and melted into the mass.

I'll keep you safe, here in my secret room.

There, behind your heartbeat, have you stored up all my lost memories?

Memories do not change the law.

The real me is disappearing as we speak. Slowly but surely being sucked into thin air.

To me, the appeal of prime numbers had something to do with the fact that you could never predict when one would appear. They seemed to be scattered along the number line at any place that took their fancy.