“Life is messed up. Things don’t go according to plan. Things change when we don’t want them to change. But you find a way to deal and move on.”

“Instead of writing epitaph on your grave ; more beautiful and memorable is to leave some hand written letters to your wife, sons and daughters and grandchildren.”

“Feeling connected to others gives meaning and purpose to our lives.”

“A person could waste an important part of his living if he refuses to come into significance; if he refuses to impact lives around, the family and in the community or in the society.”

“Make time while you can take time cause time will soon take all you make.”

“- Lei non è di quella zona? – gli chiese il fotografo che viaggiava con lui.- Sì, – rispose.Tuttavia non telefonò ai suoi. Junpei prese l’aereo e ritornò a Tokyo e alla sua solita routine. Non accendeva la televisione e non apriva i giornali. Quando si parlava di terremoto, taceva. Era un’eco da un passato morto e lontano. Dopo la laurea non aveva mai più messo piede in quella città. Ma ciononostante le immagini di quel paesaggio in rovina avevano riaperto in lui ferite nascoste. Sembrava che quel disastro immane, fatale, stesse modificando impercettibilmente ma inesorabilmente diversi aspetti della sua vita. Provava un profondo senso di solitudine, mai avvertito prima.Non ho nessuna radice, pensava, non sono legato a nulla.”

“To all those who care, You can’t forever. Time steals the years,And your reflection in the mirror.But I can still see the story in your eyes, And your timeless passion that’s never died.While your skin became tired,Your heart became strong,The present became the past,And your memories like a song.And though the moment at hand is all that we have, You’ve taught me to live it like it is our last.Since two words don’t say ‘thank you’ the way they are meant to,I’ll try all my life to be something like you.”

“Every relationship that has hit a crossroads has asked, “What is it that you want from me?”

“Son, it is bad for a man to be condemned by his children, more so by the sons he cherishes.”

“Isn’t materialism the cause of much that is evil in the land of mortal souls?”

“It’s a mistake to believe that they (parents) are responsible for their children’s best future. This responsibility is on their children, and that’s the message they should be conveying to their children on a daily basis.”

“Mistakes are part of life. And yet, for some reason, most parents in this world, wish their children made no mistakes at all, or as little as possible.”

“An approach, according to which children should fulfil their parents’ dreams/ do everything in order to make their parents happy/ provide their parents with a peace of mind, or whatever they want for themselves – because they owe it to them for all those years in which their parents took care of them – is utterly selfish.”

“It’s not their (parents’) job to prevent their children from making mistakes, because mistakes are a normal part of our lives. It’s like preventing those children from having a real experience. A real life.”

“They know a lot, but they don’t know everything, and they can’t advise you on anything.They can only tell you what they believe worked / or didn’t work for them.”