Quotes from Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
- Vinky Gola
- Aug 25, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 22
This post contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using our links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please read our full disclosure policy for more details.A few days ago, I finished "Days at the Morisaki Bookshop" by Satoshi Yagisawa. I'm still captivated by this heartwarming novella. Below, I'm sharing my favorite quotes from the book.
The Morisaki Bookshop is precious to me. It’s a place I know I’ll never forget.
Your life is yours. It doesn’t belong to anyone else.
But, I don’t know, maybe it takes a long time to figure out what you’re truly searching for. Maybe you spend your life just to figure out a small part of it.
It’s important to stand still sometimes. Think of it as a little rest in the long journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a little while. After you’re well rested, you can set sail again.
No matter where you go, or how many books you read, you still know nothing, you haven’t seen anything. And that’s life.
At a loss, I stood in front of a mountain-sized stack of books and closed my eyes. Then I reached out my hand and pulled out the first book that I touched.
Little by little, I felt something wash over me, a feeling of peace that words can’t express. If I had to explain it, I’d say it could only have come from the writer’s fervent love for life.
From that moment on, I read relentlessly, one book after another. It was as if a love of reading had been sleeping somewhere deep inside all this time, and then it suddenly sprang to life. I read slowly, savoring each book one by one. I had all the time in the world then. And there was no danger I’d run out of books, no matter how much I read.
I read them voraciously, the authors whose names I knew but hadn’t read, the ones whose names I’d never even heard of, any book that seemed interesting. And yet for all I read, I found book after book that I still wanted to read. I’d never experienced anything like this before. It made me feel like I had been wasting my life until this moment.
These old books held more history within their covers than I’d ever imagined. That wasn’t limited to the content of the book itself. In each volume, I discovered traces of the years that had gone by.
“The act of seeing is no small things. To see something is to be possessed by it. Sometimes it carries off a part of you, sometimes it’s your whole soul.”
Day by day, the leaves of the trees along the streets turned to gold. It delighted me to see how well the changing colors matched the slow transformation happening inside me.
“… even though we call them all “bookstores,” each store has its own totally distinct flavor.”
I think every serious reader at some point in their life encounters a book like that. And they never forget the experience.
For a long time, I’d let myself feel like I was totally alone in this big world, but all along there was someone close by, thinking about me, looking for me. That made me immensely happy.
Don’t be afraid to love someone. When you fall in love, I want you to fall in love all the way. Even if it ends in heartache, please don’t live a lonely life without love. […] Love is wonderful. I don’t want you to forget that. Those memories of people you love, they never disappear. They go on warming your heart as long as you live.
Conclusion
Takako's story resonates with anyone who has ever found comfort within the pages of books, reminding us that literature has the power to heal, transform, and provide new perspectives on life. Whether you're a seasoned bibliophile or just beginning your reading journey, this novella offers a touching testament to the magic that unfolds when we open ourselves to the world of books.
Have you read "Days at the Morisaki Bookshop" yet? Which quote or passage resonated with you the most?
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