Banana Yoshimoto

, pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (born 24 July 1964), is a Japanese novelist.

Kitchen (1988)

 * Trans. Megan Backus. Grove Press, 1993.


 * As I grow older, much older, I will experience many things, and I will hit rock bottom again and again. Again and again I will suffer; again and again I will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won't let my spirit be destroyed.


 * People aren't overcome by situations or outside forces; defeat invades from within.


 * Truly happy memories always live on, shining. Over time, one by one, they come back to life.

(1989)

 * Trans. Michael Emmerich. Grove Press, 2002.


 * Each one of us continues to carry the heart of each self we've ever been, at every stage along the way, and a chaos of everything good and rotten. And we have to carry this weight all alone, through each day that we live. We try to be as nice as we can to the people we love, but we alone support the weight of ourselves.


 * No matter where you are, you're always a bit on your own, always an outsider.


 * Love is the kind of thing that's already happening by the time you notice it, that's how it works, and no matter how old you get, that doesn't change. Except that you can break it up into two entirely distinct types—love where there's an end in sight and love where there isn't. People in love understand that better than anyone. When there's no end in sight, it means you're headed for something huge.