"Everything passes. Nobody gets anything for keeps. And that's how we've got to live"
About this Quote
Murakami lands a whole worldview in three blunt sentences: impermanence isn’t a tragedy, it’s the operating system. “Everything passes” reads like a shrug until the next line sharpens it into a rebuke of entitlement. “Nobody gets anything for keeps” isn’t just about objects; it’s aimed at the emotional contracts we draft in our heads - that love should stay, youth should stay, meaning should stay. He frames transience as the one fair rule: no special exemptions, no hidden stash of permanence for the deserving.
The subtext is classic Murakami: a calm voice saying something bleak while smuggling in a kind of relief. If nothing is for keeps, then failure doesn’t get to be final either. The line carries the muted resilience of his characters, people who drift through loss, odd coincidences, and quiet ruptures, learning to keep moving without the dramatic moral payoff most stories promise. The point isn’t to “accept change” in a self-help way; it’s to stop building your life around the fantasy of ownership - of people, of moments, even of your own identity.
“And that’s how we’ve got to live” is the hard pivot from observation to mandate. Not “should,” not “might,” but “got to”: a practical ethic for modern life, where the floor keeps shifting. Murakami’s genius here is the tone - plain, almost conversational - making a severe truth feel usable, like advice you can carry in your pocket rather than a philosophy that sits on a shelf.
The subtext is classic Murakami: a calm voice saying something bleak while smuggling in a kind of relief. If nothing is for keeps, then failure doesn’t get to be final either. The line carries the muted resilience of his characters, people who drift through loss, odd coincidences, and quiet ruptures, learning to keep moving without the dramatic moral payoff most stories promise. The point isn’t to “accept change” in a self-help way; it’s to stop building your life around the fantasy of ownership - of people, of moments, even of your own identity.
“And that’s how we’ve got to live” is the hard pivot from observation to mandate. Not “should,” not “might,” but “got to”: a practical ethic for modern life, where the floor keeps shifting. Murakami’s genius here is the tone - plain, almost conversational - making a severe truth feel usable, like advice you can carry in your pocket rather than a philosophy that sits on a shelf.
Quote Details
| Topic | Letting Go |
|---|
More Quotes by Haruki
Add to List
