- At least I don't sit around waiting for something to fall into my lap. I put every effort into making it happen. I put in ten times more effort than you do.
- I'm sure you do, - I agreed.
- That's why I sometimes look around and feel disgusted. Why don't these people make an effort, why don't they exert themselves, and instead just whine?
I looked at Nagasawa's face in bewilderment.
- It seems to me that everyone around us works like a dog without ever straightening their backs. Or am I seeing things wrong?
- That's not effort, that's just work, - Nagasawa said curtly. - That's not the kind of effort I'm talking about. By effort, I mean something more substantial and purposeful.
- Like deciding what job to take and then starting to learn Spanish with an easy mind?
- Yes, exactly! I'll master Spanish by spring. I've already learned English, German, and French, and I'm finishing Italian. Do you think that's possible without effort?
He smoked while I thought about Midori's father. I thought that Midori's father probably could never have imagined that someone might start learning Spanish from television lessons. And the difference between effort and work had surely never occurred to him either. He had been too busy to think about it. He had more work than he could handle, and he had to travel to Fukushima to see his daughter.
This is from Murakami's "Norwegian Wood"