Haruki Murakami Quotes

Religion brings to man an inner strength, spiritual light, and ineffable peace.

The truth of the matter is that when you write about religion like I do, you're writing about something that people take very seriously.

The truth is that when it comes to suffering, if we do not go to our graves in confusion, we will not go to our graves trusting. Explanations are a substitute for trust.

If you take a cold, blunt view of most religions, and you sort of say, 'Well, here's the basis for it,' most of them sound crazy. It's the belief that makes them real. I was interested in that question: When does a belief become a myth? When does something you believe in become just a story?

I've come to learn that theology matters. It matters not because we want to impress people, but because what we know about God shapes the way we think and live. Theology matters because if we get it wrong then our whole life will be wrong.

Religion works. I know there's comfort there, a crash pad. It's something to explain the world and tell you there is something bigger than you, and it is going to be alright in the end. It works because it's comforting. I grew up believing in it, and it worked for me in whatever my little personal high school crisis was, but it didn't last for me.

I feel bad for people who (don't have) faith because they don't have that blanket of comfort...If I'm going out on stage, I always say a prayer right before I go out. Whatever it is. Before I take off on a plane. There's just always this connection...God knows. I know. That's all I need.

Isaac Asimov's remark about the infantilism of pseudoscience is just as applicable to religion: 'Inspect every piece of pseudoscience and you will find a security blanket, a thumb to suck, a skirt to hold.' It is astonishing, moreover, how many people are unable to understand that 'X is comforting' does not imply 'X is true'.

I don't believe in God now. I can still work up an envy for someone who has a faith. I can see how that could be a deeply soothing experience.

Lies are just stories, and stories are all that matter. We all tell stories. Some are more truthful than others, maybe, but in the end the only thing that counts is what you can make people believe.

I was raised to believe that religion is a beautiful thing, but it's fiction.

People invent gods to explain their suffering.

I think there's a lot that's beautiful about religion and very inspiring, obviously, but I do think that God needs to be rescued from religion actually.

If ignorance were enough to make things not exist, the world would be more like a lot of people think it is. But it's not. And it's not.

God is the absolute truth...

What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.

Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point MY POINT EXACTLY.

I feel that religion can be used as a tool to guide your life and help you connect with other people.

You don't have to believe that there was a King Arthur to get the significance of those stories, but Christians say we have to believe there was a Christ, or the miracles don't make sense.

We all have a thirst for wonder. It's a deeply human quality. Science and religion are both bound up with it. What I'm saying is, you don't have to make stories up, you don't have to exaggerate. There's wonder and awe enough in the real world. Nature's a lot better at inventing wonders than we are.

One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them. Finding bad reasons for what one believes for other bad reasons-that's philosophy. People believe in God because they've been conditioned to believe in God.

People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things.

The best stories are often true...The narrative of human life is most beautiful when told truthfully and without boundaries.

I believe science has a wonderful ability, in an unbiased way, to offer hope to many people who are confused, but it's not the only way to find hope.

I'm not a religious man... I find I am a fan of science. I believe in science. A humility before the facts. I find that a moving and beautiful thing. And belief in the unknown I find less interesting. I find the known and the knowable interesting enough.