“There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.”
―
Kazuo Ishiguro
“Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“I keep thinking about this river somewhere, with the water moving really fast. And these two people in the water, trying to hold onto each other, holding on as hard as they can, but in the end it's just too much. The current's too strong. They've got to let go, drift apart. That's how it is with us. It's a shame, Kath, because we've loved each other all our lives. But in the end, we can't stay together forever.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“Sometimes I get so immersed in my own company, if I unexpectedly run into someone I know, it's a bit of a shock and takes me a while to adjust.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“We took away your art because we thought it would reveal your souls. Or to put it more finely, we did it to prove you had souls at all.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“What I'm not sure about, is if our lives have been so different from the lives of the people we save. We all complete. Maybe none of us really understand what we've lived through, or feel we've had enough time.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“I half closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, and maybe even call.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“It was like when you make a move in chess and just as you take your finger off the piece, you see the mistake you've made, and there's this panic because you don't know yet the scale of disaster you've left yourself open to.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“You have to accept that sometimes that's how things happen in this world. People's opinions, their feelings, they go one way, then the other. It just so happens you grew up at a certain point in this process.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“All children have to be deceived if they are to grow up without trauma.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“It never occurred to me that our lives, until then so closely interwoven, could unravel and separate over a thing like that. But the fact was, I suppose, there were powerful tides tugging us apart by then, and it only needed something like that to finish the task. If we'd understood that back then-who knows?-maybe we'd have kept a tighter hold of one another.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“Indeed — why should I not admit it? — in that moment, my heart was breaking.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
“You say you’re sure? Sure that you’re in love? How can you know it? You think love is so simple? ” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one's life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
“The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
“That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that strange rubbish, feeling the wind coming across those empty fields, that I started to imagine just a little fantasy thing, because this was Norfolk after all, and it was only a couple of weeks since I’d lost him. I was thinking about the rubbish, the flapping plastic in the branches, the shore-line of odd stuff caught along the fencing, and I half-closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field, and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, maybe even call. The fantasy never got beyond that --I didn't let it-- and though the tears rolled down my face, I wasn't sobbing or out of control. I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it was I was supposed to be.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“She always wanted to believe in things.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“Because maybe, in a way, we didn't leave it behind nearly as much as we might once have thought. Because somewhere underneath, a part of us stayed like that: fearful of the world around us, and no matter how much we despised ourselves for it--unable quite to let each other go.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“If you are under the impression you have already perfected yourself, you will never rise to the heights you are no doubt capable of.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
“Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“I keep thinking about this river somewhere, with the water moving really fast. And these two people in the water, trying to hold onto each other, holding on as hard as they can, but in the end it's just too much. The current's too strong. They've got to let go, drift apart. That's how it is with us. It's a shame, Kath, because we've loved each other all our lives. But in the end, we can't stay together forever.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“Sometimes I get so immersed in my own company, if I unexpectedly run into someone I know, it's a bit of a shock and takes me a while to adjust.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“We took away your art because we thought it would reveal your souls. Or to put it more finely, we did it to prove you had souls at all.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“What I'm not sure about, is if our lives have been so different from the lives of the people we save. We all complete. Maybe none of us really understand what we've lived through, or feel we've had enough time.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“I half closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, and maybe even call.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“It was like when you make a move in chess and just as you take your finger off the piece, you see the mistake you've made, and there's this panic because you don't know yet the scale of disaster you've left yourself open to.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“You have to accept that sometimes that's how things happen in this world. People's opinions, their feelings, they go one way, then the other. It just so happens you grew up at a certain point in this process.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“All children have to be deceived if they are to grow up without trauma.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“It never occurred to me that our lives, until then so closely interwoven, could unravel and separate over a thing like that. But the fact was, I suppose, there were powerful tides tugging us apart by then, and it only needed something like that to finish the task. If we'd understood that back then-who knows?-maybe we'd have kept a tighter hold of one another.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“Indeed — why should I not admit it? — in that moment, my heart was breaking.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
“You say you’re sure? Sure that you’re in love? How can you know it? You think love is so simple? ” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one's life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
“The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
“That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that strange rubbish, feeling the wind coming across those empty fields, that I started to imagine just a little fantasy thing, because this was Norfolk after all, and it was only a couple of weeks since I’d lost him. I was thinking about the rubbish, the flapping plastic in the branches, the shore-line of odd stuff caught along the fencing, and I half-closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field, and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, maybe even call. The fantasy never got beyond that --I didn't let it-- and though the tears rolled down my face, I wasn't sobbing or out of control. I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it was I was supposed to be.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“She always wanted to believe in things.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“Because maybe, in a way, we didn't leave it behind nearly as much as we might once have thought. Because somewhere underneath, a part of us stayed like that: fearful of the world around us, and no matter how much we despised ourselves for it--unable quite to let each other go.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
“If you are under the impression you have already perfected yourself, you will never rise to the heights you are no doubt capable of.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
