Quotes from Miyuki Miyabe

This is the nameless land, they say. To you, who for reasons unknowable glimpse here these words. Good people, do not mistake the terms of the agreement: Do not ask men for the story of the nameless land. Do not move lips and tongue in an imitation of the tongue of the nameless land. Do not treat as men those who are imprisoned in the nameless land.

Ico stared at Yorda's face. It was beautiful. He didn't dare breathe for fear of breaking the spell. Her eyes were sparkling. "Thank you.

Only the very top of the arched ceiling remained in shadow, as though some dark creature lurked there, devouring all light that strayed too close.

For the very young to rail against their own bitter fate, they must draw upon all their strength and spirit. That is why they are so steadfast.

All stories are the sin of their weaver.

One of the girls saw her, then did a double-take. Her eyes sparkled. Not a bright sparkle, but a dull, dark sparkle, like the twinkling of a lantern at the bottom of a deep well. Here's something fun, her eyes said. Here's something freakish. Let's play with it and see if we can make it cry.

On the evening my mother-in-law died, the noise of a chance sudden downpour resounded in the walkway and through the garden, roaring as though everything around us were being hammered by a fall of pebbles. That was why I was unable to catch what she said in the last moments before her eyes closed.

That which is foolish is sometimes far stronger than that which is right, possessing an uncanny power to move men's hearts. And foolish ideas have always found easy purchase on small parts, hearts with holes, hearts like hollow, barren trees waiting to be filled.

You only live once. "That's why, if you think you've made a mistake, no matter how much you struggle, how much difficulty you face, you have to fix what can be fixed. There's no time for regrets.

Wataru would never cry again. He turned to stone—a little stone in the shape of a boy.

Saying you have something that you don't makes it yours. Saying you don't have something you do makes it go away.

Was it wrong to say something no one believed, even if it was right? Did he have to just sit there and take it when no one agreed with him?

People were always good at justifying their actions if there was a need, or even the appearance of one, and were quick to turn to violence when necessary.

Nobue confundía las cosas: la inteligencia no podía medirse por las notas que uno consiguiera en la escuela. Que una persona sacara buenas notas no lo describía como un ser humano decente.

Love is the most important thing a person can know... If you should win love once, you'll know it is harder than death to let go.

Even now, years later, that day stood out in his memory like a shining piece of colored glass in a sea of mud.