“That was the rule. Break one of my rules once, and I’m bound to break many more.”

“Never trust a man who carries a handkerchief, I always say. One of many prejudicial rules of thumb.”

“I'm in no position to hand down any advice," he said, "but there's a rule I follow when I don't know what to do.""A rule?""If you have to choose between something that has form and something that doesn't, go for the one without form. That's my rule. Whenever I run into a wall I follow that rule, and it always works out. Even if it's hard going at the time.”

“I wrote a huge number of letters that spring: one a week to Naoko, several to Reiko, and several more to Midori. I wrote letters in the classroom, I wrote letters at my desk at home with Seagull in my lap, I wrote letters at empty tables during my breaks at the Italian restaurant. It was as if I were writing letters to hold together the pieces of my crumbling life.”

“Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg.”

“Grammar is like the air: someone higher up might try to set rules for its use, but people won't necessarily follow them.”

“Whenever I got home late, I'd always go to my son's room first, to see his sleeping face. Sometimes I was seized by a desire to squeeze him so hard he might break.”