Kenji Quotes & Sayings

Have you ever had a girlfriend, Kenji?"
"What?" He looks mortally offended. "Do I look like the kind of guy who's never had a girlfriend? Have you even met me? — Tahereh Mafi

Your suit looks just like mine." Kenji frowns. "I'm supposed to be the one with the black suit. Why can't you have a pink suit? Or a yellow suit - "
"Because we're not the freaking Power Rangers," Winston says, rolling his eyes.
"What the hell is a Power Ranger?" Kenji shoots back. — Tahereh Mafi

No one has written adequately of what happens when enough of the body's naked surface is pressed against another human being's. It is a slow dismantling of ego, a suspension of the instinct to distinguish Me from Not Me. — Kenji Yoshino

You must put the odor of the human body into images describe for me the implacable, the egoistic, the sensual, the cruel there are nothing but disgusting people in this world. — Kenji Mizoguchi

We ordinary people must forge our own beauty. We must set fire to the greyness of our labor with the art of our own lives ... What is the essence of this art of living? Of course, even this art should have beauty as its essence. — Kenji Miyazawa

Can you, like, see invisible people, too?"
"No," Warner says to him, eyes focused in front of him. "I can feel your presence. Hers, most of all."
"Really?" Kenji says. "That's some weird shit. What do I feel like? Peanut butter?"
Warner is unamused. — Tahereh Mafi

I'm not an idiot, Kenji. I have reasons for the things I say."
"Yeah, and maybe I'm just saying that you have no idea what you're saying."
"Whatever."
"Don't whatever me - "
"Whatever," I say again.
"Oh my God," Kenji says to no one in particular. "I think this girl wants to get her ass kicked."
"You couldn't kick my ass if I had ten of them."
Kenji laughs out loud. "Is that a challenge?"
"It's a warning," I say to him.
"Ohhhhhh, so you're threatening me now? Little crybaby knows how to make threats now?"
"Shut up, Kenji."
"Shut up, Kenji," he repeats in a whiny voice, mocking me. — Tahereh Mafi

I turn to face him. "Listen, I'm grateful you're going to help me train now-really, I am. Thank you for that. But you can't go around proclaiming your fake love for me-especially not in front of Adam-and you have to let me cross this room before the breakfast hour is over, okay? I hardly ever get to see him."
Kenji nods very slowly, looks a little solemn. You're right. I'm sorry. I get it."
"Thank you."
"Adam is jealous of our love."
"Just go get your food!" I push him, hard, fighting back an exasperated laugh. — Tahereh Mafi

I have seen horrible places and have risked my life, but I know that somehow God will always save me. — Kenji Goto

Kenji pulls up next to me. Nods at Warner. "So this gets you going, huh?"
I'm mortified.
Kenji barks out a laugh.
"I've never seen him in sweatpants before." I try to sound normal. "I've never even seen him in shorts."
Kenji raises an eyebrow at me. "I bet you've seen him in less."
I want to die. — Tahereh Mafi

I remember a biology lab in which we observed a spear-headed water worm. Like a starfish, it could grow back anything we razored off of it, even to the point of generating multiple versions of itself. I saw myself in that gliding shape. Arrow-shaped, it never arrived where it wanted to go. But it knew, when cut, to grow. — Kenji Yoshino

These poems are a mental sketch as formed / Passage by passage of light and shade / Maintained and preserved to this point / Brought together in paper and mineral ink — Kenji Miyazawa

So I take a deep breath.
Step forward.
Let go.

10 seconds and I'm trying to breathe
9
And I'm trying to be brave
8
But the truth is I'm scared out of my mind
7
And I have no idea what's waiting for me behind that door
6
And I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a heart attack
5
But I can't turn back now
4
Because there it is
3
The door is right in front of me
2
All I have to do is knock
1
Butthe door flies open first. — Tahereh Mafi

We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey — Kenji Miyazawa

Regardless of what the object of design is, humans need design. For anything humans use in their day to day life, they need design and it is a clear and concrete proof of the fundamental human right to live. — Kenji Ekuan

Love hurts but it can hurt worse if you allow your eyes to wander. — Kenji Inoue

Hey
jazz hands!" Kenji barks. "Get your ass back over here." He makes it a point to look as irritated as possible. "Back to work. And this time, focus. You're not an ape. Don't just throw your shit everywhere. — Tahereh Mafi

Kenji-""So the minute you opened your mouth you just shattered all his dreams, huh?"
Juliette- "I will push you off the roof."
Kenji-"Yeah, I can definitely see why Adam wouldn't like you. — Tahereh Mafi

You're my best friend, Kenji. You know that, right?" "Yeah, kid." He grins at me. "I do. And I can't believe I got stuck with your skinny ass. — Tahereh Mafi

She had come to him the fool, thinking herself the experienced one. After all, she had nothing to give that another hadn't had, nothing so far as she knew. But he'd taken what hadn't been there; what was his; what was promised. — Shewanda Pugh

Oh right," he says. "Because that makes sense. Because tossing a grown-ass man over your shoulders is just so freaking easy. That shit just comes naturally to you." I shrug. Kenji lets out a low whistle.
"Cocky as hell, too. — Tahereh Mafi

And that was it. There was nothing we could do. We just had to stand there, watching as they dropped bombs on thirty years of work, killed everyone too young or too old to fight back, and then massacred the rest of our team on the field." He clenches his hand around mine. "I come back here every day," he says. "Hoping someone will show up. Hoping to find something to take back." He stops then, voice tight with emotion. "And here you are. This shit doesn't even seem real."
I squeeze his fingers - gently, this time - and huddle closer to him. "We're going to be okay, Kenji. I promise. We'll stick together. We'll get through this. — Tahereh Mafi

One day," I say to him, "you'll realize that Warner is not as crazy as you think he is."
"Yeah." Kenji says. "Or maybe one day we'll be able to reprogram that chip in your head."
"Shut up. — Tahereh Mafi

You know, you have a really strange way of telling me you're attracted to me. — Tahereh Mafi

People like me and Ozu get films made by hard work, but Shimizu is a genius ... — Kenji Mizoguchi

When are you putting me down?" he counters, no longer amused. "I mean, I've got an excellent view of your ass from here, but if you don't mind me staring -"
I drop him without thinking.
"Goddammit, Juliette - what the hell -"
"How's the view from down there?" I stand over his splayed body, arms crossed over my chest.
"I hate you. — Tahereh Mafi

What do you think?" I ask.
"Your suit looks like mine." Kenji frowns. "I'm supposed to be the one with the black suit. Why can't you have a pink suit? Or a yellow suit-"
"Because we're not the freaking Power Rangers," Winston says, rolling his eyes. — Tahereh Mafi

Lizzie had no answer for how a whore could quiver from the caress of a man, or find tears at words that were sweet. After all, hadn't she been told she was beautiful before? Perfect? Worthy of worship?

She hadn't. — Shewanda Pugh

Have you ever been in love?" I ask, turning on my side to look at him. He stares up at the sky. Blinks a few times.
"Nope."
I roll back, disappointed.
"Oh."
"This is so depressing." Kenji says.
"Yeah"
"We suck."
"Yeah. — Tahereh Mafi

Kenji is a walking paradox of Unflinchingly Serious Person and 12-Year-Old Boy Going Through Puberty all rolled into one. — Tahereh Mafi

This isn't about Adam or Warner," I tell him, "This is about me and what I want. This is about me finally understanding where I want to be in ten years. Because I'm going to be alive, Kenji. I will be alive in ten years, and I'm going to be happy. I'm going to be strong. And I don't need anyone to tell me that anymore. I am enough, and I always will be. — Tahereh Mafi

Invisible guns, huh?" Kenji smirks. "That's cute. I don't think I ever went through that phase. — Tahereh Mafi

I do want you," I say to him, my voice shaking. "I want you so much it scares me. — Tahereh Mafi

Kenji: Did you really love him...?
Juliette: I think so? I don't know. Is it possible to love someone and then stop loving them? I don't think I even know what love is. — Tahereh Mafi

I don't even know what this is, Kenji." I meet his eyes. "That's the problem. I don't know ho to explain it, and I'm not sure I understand the depth of it yet. All I know is that whatever this is, I never felt it with Adam."
Kenji's eyes pull together, surprised and scared. He says nothing for a second. Blows out a breath. "Seriously?"
I nod.
"Seriously, seriously?"
"Yeah," I say. "I feel so ... light. Like I could just ... I don't know ... " I trail off. "It's like I feel like, for the first time in my life, I'm going to be okay. Like I'm going to be strong. — Tahereh Mafi

Okay then. Let's go get our girl back." "My girl," I correct him. "She's my girl." Kenji snorts as we head in the direction of the compounds. "Right. Minus the part where she's not actually your girl. Not anymore." "Shut up." "Uh-huh." "Whatever. — Tahereh Mafi

Rafe grinned. "So we are dating?" "No. You have to pass the parental exam first. It'll take you awhile to compile the data. They'd like it in triplicate." I turned to my parents. "We have Kenji. We have my cell phone. Since we aren't officially dating, I'm sure you'll agree that's all the protection we need." Dad chocked on his coffee. — Kelley Armstrong

No matter what happens to me, I will always love the people of Syria, — Kenji Goto

He had a smile like a hug, a kiss like a blush, and a touch like a blessing. He didn't see a whore when he looked at her. He saw Lizzie. Just Lizzie. — Shewanda Pugh

But I'm also strong enough to break through just about anything," I tell them, "and without even injuring myself. Concrete. Brick. Glass-"
"The earth," Kenji adds. — Tahereh Mafi

You know, I can sort of control it now," I tell him, beaming. "I can moderate my strength levels."
"Good for you. I'll buy you a balloon the minute the world stops shitting on itself. — Tahereh Mafi

The ultimate design is little different from the natural world. — Kenji Ekuan

That was totally his fault-Kenji's.. He tried to cross on red.. You ignore the signal, you'll get hurt. every kindergartener knows.. red means stop.
-Slam Dunk — Takehiko Inoue

Warner scratches the back of his head. "Do you never get exhausted being so wholly unbearable? You have as much charisma as the rotting innards of unidentified roadkill."
I hear an abrupt wheezing noise and turn toward the sound.
Kenji has a hand pressed to his mouth, desperately trying to suppress a smile. He's shaking his head, holding up a hand in apology. And then he breaks, laughing out loud, snorting as he tries to muffle the sound. "I'm sorry," he says, pressing his lips together, shaking his head again. "This is not a funny moment. It's not. I'm not laughing."
Adam looks like he might punch Kenji in the face. — Tahereh Mafi

Son of a motherless goat! — Tahereh Mafi

Everyone calls him Blockhead
No one sings his praises
Or takes him to heart ...
That is the kind of person
I want to be — Kenji Miyazawa

You can't feel lonely if there's no one else around.

-Yamaguchi Kenji (Yamaken) — Robico

Kenji Mizoguchi is to the cinema what Bach is to music, Cervantes is to literature, Shakespeare is to theatre, Titian is to painting: the very greatest. — Jean Douchet

What if he just bombs everyone again?" Ian asks, breaking the silence. "Just like he did with Omega Point?"
"He won't," Warner says to him. "He's too arrogant, and this war has become personal. He'll want to toy with us. He'll want to draw this out as long as possible. He is a man who has always been fascinated by the idea of torture. This is going to be fun for him."
"Yeah, that's making me feel real good," Kenji says. "Thanks for the pep talk."
"Anytime," Warner says. — Tahereh Mafi

Kenji has a hand pressed to his mouth, desperately trying to suppress a smile. He's shaking his head, holding up a hand in apology. And then he breaks, laughing out loud, snorting as he tries to muffle the sound. "I'm sorry," he says, pressing his lips together, shaking his head again. "This is not a funny moment. It's not. I'm not laughing — Tahereh Mafi

Kyoto? What? Are we there yet?" Janelle sat up straight and looked around the dimly-lit interior of the high-speed train. She must have slept for hours! She had entirely forgotten where she was. She had even forgotten that she was a prisoner.

Her head had been resting on Kenji's shoulder. — Carol Storm

Please - please get up - and lower your voice - "
"Hell no."
"Why not?" I'm pleading now.
"Because if I lower my voice, I won't be able to hear myself speak. And that," he says, "is my favorite part. — Tahereh Mafi

All the information in the universe, plus several bits from other dimensions that I'm still trying to sort out, have just been mainlined into my nervous system. The shards from a googleplex of infobits seem to be stuck in the part of my brain just above the pineal gland. Yes, I've just been reading Kenji Siratori again. This is my idea of a good time. — R.U. Sirius

I'd appreciate if you'd grow the hell up and stop walking around like the world crapped on your only roll of toilet paper. — Tahereh Mafi

Are you out of your goddamn mind? You think we can take on two hundred soldiers? I know I am an extremely attractive man, J, but I am not Bruce Lee."
"Who's Bruce Lee?"
"Who's Bruce Lee?" Kenji asks, horrified. "Oh my God. We can't even be friends anymore."
"Why? Was he a friend of yours?"
"You know what," he says, "just stop. Just - I can't even talk to you right now. — Tahereh Mafi

Perhaps none of us assumes romantic love to be a birthright. Yet the confidence it will come surely admits of degrees. Growing up, I assumed I was the word that rhymed with none other-- like "silver" or "orange," glistering bright, but sonnet foiling, and always solitary traveling. Somewhere love happened, plausible as a catch of distant conversation. But not in the self's way. — Kenji Yoshino

Oh, so now you're abusing the crippled kid, huh?" Kenji takes a moment to steady himself before punching Adam in the arm. "Save your angst for the battlefield, bro. You're going to need it. — Tahereh Mafi

This is, by far, the craziest shit I have ever seen," Kenji says. "I really never would've believed it. Not in a million years."
"It's like a soap opera ... But with worse acting."
"I think it's kind of sweet ... — Tahereh Mafi

How do you always know about a birth?" Ruby asked with a mystified smile. "Wait a minute. Did Lorenzo call you?"

"Nope." Hawke winked, the thick fan of his silver-gold lashes coming down over an eye of a blue so pale, it was immediately clear that Hawke was a changeling, was wolf. "It's an alpha thing."
[...]
"Garnet."

Turning the screen in her direction, Garnet raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" She had a good idea of what was coming.

Wolf-blue eyes gleamed. "Where's your mate?"

Kenji shifted so he could scowl at Hawke. "Now you're just showing off. — Nalini Singh

I'm really happy you're taking it so well-I am- but James, this really isn't something to be excited about. We're running for our lives."
"But we're doing it together," he says for the fifth time, a huge grin overcrowding his face. He took a liking to Kenji almost too quickly, and now the pair of them are conspiring to turn out predicament into some kind of elaborate mission. — Tahereh Mafi

I'll be back to shave your head while you're sleeping." Kenji looks genuinely terrified for the first time. "You wouldn't. — Tahereh Mafi

I have a pretty spectacular face. — Tahereh Mafi

Who's Bruce Lee?" Kenji asks, horrified. "Oh my God. We can't even be friends anymore. — Tahereh Mafi

We're all too young to have to deal with this shit." Kenji is breathing hard. "Don't fool yourself, bro. No one should have to see what we've seen. No one should have to wake up in the morning and find dead bodies in their living room, but shit happens. We deal with it, and we find a way to survive. You're not the only one with problems. — Tahereh Mafi

But no words will change my desire / My determination born of love / My will to set my eccentric sight / On an ever exquisite dawn — Kenji Miyazawa

I am not made for despair — Lian Hearn

Kenji clears his throat. Hey
guys? Your loin passion is grossing out the little ones. — Tahereh Mafi

So, let me get this straight," Winston says. "Our plan is basically seduce the soldiers and civilians of Sector 45 into fighting with us?"
Kenji crossed his arms. "Yeah, it sounds like we're going to go all peacock and hope they find us attractive enough to mate with."
"Gross," Brendan frowns. — Tahereh Mafi

Are you kidding?" I stop in the middle of the kitchen. Spin around. My face is pulled together in disbelief. "You've spoken to me maybe once in the two weeks I've been here. I hardly even notice you anymore."

"Okay, hold up," he says, turning to block my path. "We both know there's no way you haven't noticed all of this" - he gestures to himself - "so if you're trying to play games with me, I should let you know up front that it's not going to work."

"What?" I frown. "What are you talking abou - "

"You can't play hard to get, kid." He raises an eyebrow. "I can't even touch you. Takes 'hard to get' to a whole new level, if you know what I mean."

"Oh my God," I mouth, eyes closed, shaking my head. "You are insane."

He falls to his knees. "Insane for your sweet, sweet love! — Tahereh Mafi

Kenji turns to look at me. He manages a goofy smile. "Aw, you trust me?"
"As long as I have a clear shot." I tighten my hold on the gun in my hand.
His grin is crooked. "I don't know why, but I kind of like it when you threaten me."
"That's because you're an idiot."
"Nah." he shakes his head. "You've got a sexy voice. Makes everything sound naughty."
Adam stands up so suddenly he nearly knocks over the coffee table. — Tahereh Mafi

I have no idea if Kenji is dead. — Tahereh Mafi

I don't have the time, the energy, or the interest to deal with your problems. — Tahereh Mafi

It's incredible how someone can look so right and feel so wrong. Kent is a lucky bastard. — Tahereh Mafi

Hey - guys? Your loin passion is grossing out the little ones." "I'm not a little one," James says, visibly offended. "And I don't think it's gross." Kenji spins around. "You're not bothered by all the heavy breathing going on over here?" He makes a haphazard gesture toward us. I jump away from Adam reflexively. "No," James says, crossing his arms. "Are you?" "Disgust was my general reaction, yeah." "I bet you wouldn't think it was gross if it was you. — Anonymous

I'm not falling for Warner," I say quietly.
"Sure you aren't."
"I'm not," I insist. "I'm just
I don't know." I sigh. "I don't know what's happening to me."
"They're called hormones. — Tahereh Mafi

Adam leans into my ear. I feel the soft whispers of his breath just before he begins to speak.
"You guys are disgusting, you know that, right?"
I look up, startled, and find Kenji frozen midmovement, his spoon halfway to his mouth, his head cocking in our direction. He gestures with his spoon at our faces. "What the hell is this? You guys playing footsie under the table or someshit? — Tahereh Mafi

A martial art that has no rules is nothing but violence. — Kenji Tomiki

I am going to MURDER YOU - "
"No," he says, pointing at me as he shifts backward again. "Bad Juliette. You don't like to kill people, remember? You're against that, remember? You like to talk about feelings and rainbows - — Tahereh Mafi

Comamandering is not a word.
It has letters, doesn't it? Sounds like a word to me. — Tahereh Mafi

Making an object means imbuing it with its own spirit. — Kenji Ekuan

Don't you know the man whose life you spare will always hate you? — Lian Hearn

Good morning, sunshine." Kenji blinks in our direction.
"Morning," I say back.
"I wasn't talking to you," he says, trying to smile.
"I was talking to the sunshine. — Tahereh Mafi

The man is moody as hell."

"I am not moody - "

"Yeah, bro." Kenji puts his utensils down. "You are moody. It's always 'Shut up, Kenji.' 'Go to sleep, Kenji.' 'No one wants to see you naked, Kenji.' When I know for a fact that there are thousands of people who would love to see me naked - — Tahereh Mafi

He won't stop staring.
"What?" I ask.
"How much do you weigh?"
"Wow. Is that how you talk to every girl you meet? That explains so much."
"I'm about one hundred seventy-five pounds," he says. "Of muscle."
I stare at him. "Would you like an award?"
"Well, well, well," he says, cocking his head, the barest hint of a smile flickering across his face. "Look who's the smart-ass now."
"I think you're rubbing off on me," I say. — Tahereh Mafi

One reason current discussions of justice are so impoverished is that our heterogeneous society does not have many shared texts. Shakespeare's plays are among the few secular texts that remain common enough and complex enough to sustain these conversation. His answers to our dilemmas may not "bear on all points." Yet they teach us not to underestimate the action of the flower. — Kenji Yoshino

You want to keep your little brother alive? Make sure you don't kill yourself while you're trying to save him. — Tahereh Mafi

You're naked?" Kenji is suddenly studying my sheet and not bothering to be subtle about it. I flush despite my best efforts, flustered, frustrated.
"Blondie said they destroyed my clothes."
"Blondie?" Blond man is offended. — Tahereh Mafi

Kenji glances over his shoulder at me, but doesn't have the chance to turn all the way around before I crash into him, grabbing his hands and squeezing them in my own. "Don't let go," I tell him, eyes filling fast with tears. "Don't let go. You don't have to let go. — Tahereh Mafi

But dreams are meaningful when you work toward them in the real world. If you merely live within the dreams of other people it's no different from being dead. — Kenji Kamiyama

Closing my eyes and holding still. It's the end if I get mad or scream. It's close to a prayer. Hate is not for humans. Judgment lies with God. That's what I learned from my Arabic brothers and sisters. — Kenji Goto

Kenji snorts."That's because you're not fragile," Kenji says. "If anything, everyone needs to protect themselves from you. You're like a freaking beast," he says. Then adds, "I mean, you know - like, a cute beast. A little beast that tears shit up and breaks the earth and sucks the life out of people. — Tahereh Mafi

I sigh. "I don't know what's happening to me."
"They're called hormones."
I shoot him a dirty look. "I'm serious."
"Me too." He cocks his head at me. "That's like, biological and shit. Scientific. Maybe your lady bits are scientifically confused."
"My lady bits?"
"Oh, I'm sorry" - Kenji pretends to look offended - "would you rather I use the proper anatomical terminology? Because you lady bits do not scare me-"
"Yeah, no thanks. — Tahereh Mafi

If you're not happy, just leave. Don't cheat. Doesn't take a genius to figure that shit out. - Kenji — Tahereh Mafi

Hey, um, I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for a friend of mine," he says. "Have you seen her? She's a tiny little thing, cries a lot, spends too much time with her feelings-"
"Shut up, Kenji!"
"Oh wait!" he says. "It is you. — Tahereh Mafi

So, what - you just walk right past me? Don't even say hello?" He clutches the socks to his chest. "I'm crushed. I saved us a table and everything."

I glance at him. Keep walking.

He catches up. "I'm serious. Do you have any idea how awkward it is to wave at someone and have them ignore you? And then you're just looking around like a jackass, trying to be all, 'No, really, I swear, I know that girl' and no one believes y - — Tahereh Mafi

Three forty-five-pound plates on each side of what Kenji told me is an Olympic bar, which weighs an additional forty-five pounds. I can't stop staring. I don't think that I've ever been more attracted to him in all the time I've known him."
"So this gets you going, huh?"
...
"I've never seen him in sweatpants before ... "
...
"I bet you've seen him in a lot less. — Tahereh Mafi

Why do you call her 'love'?" James asks. "I've heard you say that before, too. A lot. Are you in love with her? I think Adam's in love with her. Kenji's not in love with her, though. I already asked him."
Warner blinks at him.
"Well?" James asks.
"Well what?"
"Are you in love with her?"
"Are you in love with her?"
"What?" James blushes. "No. She's like a million years older than me."
"Would anyone else like to take over this conversation?" Warner asks, looking around the group. — Tahereh Mafi

To read Shakespeare is to feel encompassed -- the plays contain practically every word I know, practically every character type I have ever met, and practically every idea I have ever had. — Kenji Yoshino

So that's it?" Kenji says. "You just like him for his personality, huh?"
"What?"
"All of this," Kenji says, waving a hand in the air, "has nothing to do with him being all sexy and shit and him being able to touch you all the time?"
"You think Warner is sexy?"
"That is not what I said. — Tahereh Mafi

I'm here for you kid. That's what friends are for. — Tahereh Mafi