Jonghyun once said, “different doesn’t mean wrong”, when showing his support for minorities in Korea. He was an inspiration for fellow artists, represented hope and showed unconditional love for those who looked up to him.

╾ “I don’t think you should react to little things in life. But when someone critics you, you should understand it and change your thoughts. I think that is the basics of life of learning.”

╾ “You should never tell anyone that ‘You are not the only one suffering’, ‘Everyone’s like you’, or ‘If you have the courage to die, you can live’. Physical scars and psychological scars are different. I hope everyone can think for a second that scars exist even if you can’t see them.”

╾ “Life is a series of encounters and farewells. I believe we grow in the process. For now, it is very sad but we will meet again. We can hope for that day to come soon, and we will be able to greet each other with much bigger welcome.”

╾ “Time goes by. It is just slower when you are having a hard time. If you try to enjoy the time, everything will be alright.”

╾ “Always have your opinion and belief.”

╾ “Cry out loud once. Look in the mirror and shake it off. I’ve cried like that before and others will have times like that too. Cheer up. You are not alone.”

╾ “I haven’t showed many people this side to myself. I would be afraid about what they would think about me if I were to talk to them like this. It feels like no matter what I say, people will continue to judge me however they like. I wanted to show my real side to prove that what people were saying was false, but I realized that it wouldn’t make a difference and instead pondered at why they thought those things about me. With this, I wanted to open up and show my frustrations. I thought many people didn’t want to know what I’m really like. There aren’t that many people that want to know the real me.”

╾ “‘Everyone lives like that. You’re not the only one having a hard time.’ These words..., I think it’s the most wrong way of consolation in the world. The comparing with the other opponent, with different people. You know how there are these words? 'Live with the courage to die'; Well..., these words? I think it’s the worst way of consolation, comfort. To someone who’s having a hard time, someone who’s gloomy/depressed, to an exhausted person, to say: 'when you get these thoughts, think of..., when you get those thoughts, courageously, do something different, ya, right now, since you’re having a hard time like that: you’re exhausted, tired and having negative thoughts; I think it’d be good to quickly put that energy on the move and quickly take care of the work you need to get done'. To be honest, that person was aware of this too. They already know it’ll be solved by quickly moving on. They really immensely wish for it to be that way. However, it’s not working that way. There’s another thing other than the body’s wounds that you can't see with your own eyes: it’s the heart’s wounds and, because of that, when comforting someone, I think one should think of how there’s certainly another existence, something that my eyes can’t see. Of course, me too, while talking about this, since there are certainly words I gave to someone and wounds I’ve received from someone, I wanted to complain and talk a bit about this to our dear listeners. When comforting someone, rather than consoling them by comparing, whether comparing them to yourself or another person’s situation, I think it’d be nice to just have a talk about that person, them solely.”

╾ “Even when going through the same stress, it's impact can be very different from one person to another. You'd have one who'd feel burdened over something, but the other one who's indifferent to this same thing. One just shouldn't judge badly the person who's indifferent since they probably have their own moments where it becomes stressful for them too. It's our differences in dealing with certain situations.”

╾ “The surprise that I feel from the difference between how others see me and how I see myself was the most surprising thing that I've experienced in my life.”

╾ “I think of music as a story. I hope music can draw people’s sympathy. I hope people will feel affected when they listen to my music or (while) looking at the lyrics, or listening to the melody. I’m not saying to like my music but I hope they can feel the emotion of my music and think, “it’s true, I’ve also been through that.” I just really want to tell a story about everything in this world.”

╾ “I have a motto: “rather than understand, acknowledge”. I came to learn that there are things that i am unable to understand and, _rather than denying them, i would start (to try and understand a little more) by acknowledging them__. To acknowledge something’s existence in it’s whole… Then think a little more about why is this way… This is the motto that i hold up.”

╾ “There's a saying that age doesn’t matter when learning something, but I believe that time matters. Age and time are different, right? You should always be opened to learn something (new), but if there’s an opportunity to learn something in a better environment, I believe you should work for it and agonize over it.”

╾ “I don't really celebrate christmas, and I don't celebrate this day, that day, what day. Because I feel like I have to get excited too because others are excited about it too. I dislike that so much.”

╾ “The thing about a dream is that, even if you don't realize it, it doesn't mean that your life is a failure. Of course if you can make it come true, it is something happy. But if it doesn't, the effort and spirit you put into (realizing it) aids your growth too. Having a ream is a great thing, but it's not compulsory to have one.”

╾ “Everyone, it's commercialism!” (on days like valentine's day or white day)

╾ “There’s no such thing as a useless emotion. When I have kids I’m going to raise them knowing the luxury of emotions.”

╾ “Aging is not important. It’s how you age that’s important. (ie: how you change as a person, etc.) Everyone ages.”

╾ “I’m not someone who throws things away easily. I’m preparing to move house and I wonder if my mom is having a hard time (with that). She told me, “no matter how important it is to hold on to memories, when it’s time to let them go, you have to let them go.”

╾ Q: Is it too late to be in search of a dream? A: “Aren’t dreams to be searched for your entire life? I don’t think it’s too late, and having attained your dream isn’t everything either. It’s the process (that you go through to get it) that’s more important.”

╾ “Would there be anyone who hasn’t experienced one sided love? I don’t think so. I experience one sided love very often; to the point where I think I like it. I think a one sided love is a sort of happiness too. The fact that you’re loving someone... There are many people who cannot love (or find it hard to love). I think it’s a happy situation although you may feel sad or a heartache because of it. It’s a part of a growing process and a good experience in life.”

╾ “Sometimes, when I see myself angry, I realize that I don’t know myself that well. In my head I’m thinking: “I can hold this anger back.” My emotions change greatly other than just being happy or sad but also feeling angry or depressed. Looking at myself changing from one mood to another or reaching one mood to an extreme, I realize that i don’t know myself that well.”

╾ “It’s alright. Even birds take breaks from flying sometimes. If you’re frustrated, nothing will work out. You have to think that it’ll all go well.”