So then you’re free?’ ‘Yes, I’m free,’ said Karl, and nothing seemed more worthless than his freedom.

For humans the idea of freedom is all too often a means of deceiving themselves. And although freedom is among the most exalted of feelings, so is the illusion of freedom among the most exalted of illusions.

By your side I’m most quiet and most unquiet, most inhibited and most free.

It is often safer to be in chains than to be free.

From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached.