928 Quotes by Franz Kafka

Sometimes in his arrogance he has more anxiety for the world than for himself.

Incidentally, it’s easy to write prescriptions, but difficult to come to an understanding with people.

sleep is the most innocent creature there is and a sleepless manthe most guilty.

The Expulsion from Paradise is eternal in its principal aspect: this makes it irrevocable, and our living in this world inevitable, but the eternal nature of the process has the effect that not only could we remain forever in Paradise, but that we are currently there, whether we know it or not.

I am so miserable, there are so many questions, I can see no way out and am so wretched and feeble that I could lie forever on the sofa and keep opening and closing my eyes without knowing the difference.

Die schwere Verwundung Gregors, an der er über einen Monat litt -- derApfel blieb, da ihn niemand zu entfernen wagte, als sichtbares Andenkenim Fleische sitzen --, schien selbst den Vater daran erinnert zu haben,daß Gregor trotz seiner gegenwärtigen traurigen und ekelhaften Gestaltein Familienglied war, das man nicht wie einen Feind behandeln durfte,sondern dem gegenüber es das Gebot der Familienpflicht war, denWiderwillen hinunterzuschlucken und zu dulden, nichts als dulden.

Wir wurden geschaffen, um im Paradies zu leben, das Paradies war bestimmt, uns zu dienen. Unsere Bestimmung ist geändert worden; daß dies auch mit des Bestimmung des Paradieses geschehen wäre, wird nicht gesagt.

Your will is free means: it was free when it wanted the desert, it is free since it can choose the path that leads to crossing the desert, it is free since it can choose the pace, but it is also unfree since you must go through the desert, unfree since every path in labyrinthine manner touches every foot of the desert’s surface.

Anyone who cannot come to terms with his life while he is alive needs one hand to ward off a little his despair over his fate –he has little success in this –but with his other hand he can note down what he sees among the ruins, for he sees different (and more) things than do the others; after all, dead as he is in his own lifetime, he is the real survivor. This assumes that he does not need both hands, or more hands than he has, in his struggle against despair.