Yōko Ogawa said this quote

Since that time, I've had many similar moments, and I can never hear the words family and home without feeling that they sound strange, never simply hear them and let them go. When I stop to examine them, though, the words seem hollow, seem to rattle at my feet like empty cans.

~ Yōko Ogawa

He preferred smart questions to smart answers.

~ Yōko Ogawa

Soon after I began working for the Professor, I realized that he talked about numbers whenever he was unsure of what to say or do. Numbers were also his way of reaching out to the world. They were safe, a source of comfort.

~ Yōko Ogawa

It was clear that he didn't remember me from one day to the next. The note clipped to his sleeve simply informed him that it was not our first meeting, but it could not bring back the memory of the time we had spent together.

~ Yōko Ogawa