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'Don't you want to join us?' I was recently asked by an acquaintance when he ran across me alone after midnight in a coffeehouse that was already almost deserted. 'No, I don't,' I said.
Franz Kafka -
I lack nothing. I only needed myself.
Franz Kafka
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Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.
Franz Kafka -
Photography concentrates one's eye on the superficial. For that reason it obscures the hidden life which glimmers through the outlines of things like a play of light and shade. One can't catch that even with the sharpest lens.
Franz Kafka -
Test yourself on mankind. It is something that makes the doubter doubt, the believer believe.
Franz Kafka -
One tells as few lies as possible only by telling as few lies as possible, and not by having the least possible opportunity to do so.
Franz Kafka -
There are times when I am convinced I am unfit for any human relationship.
Franz Kafka -
There are questions we could not get past if we were not set free from them by our very nature.
Franz Kafka
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A man once said: Why such reluctance? If you only followed the parables you yourselves would become parables and with that rid of all your daily cares. Another said: I bet that is also a parable. The first said: You have won. The second said: But unfortunately only in parable. The first said: No, in reality: in parable you have lost.
Franz Kafka -
Writing [is] a form of prayer.
Franz Kafka -
If you become involved with me, you will be throwing yourself into the abyss.
Franz Kafka -
A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.
Franz Kafka -
Man cannot live without a continuous confidence in something indestructible within himself.
Franz Kafka -
By imposing too great a responsibility, or rather, all responsibility, on yourself, you crush yourself.
Franz Kafka
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'You asking me the way?' 'Yes,' I said, 'since I can't find it myself.' 'Give it up! Give it up!' said he, and turned with a sudden jerk, like someone who wants to be alone with his laughter.
Franz Kafka -
I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.
Franz Kafka -
From the true antagonist illimitable courage is transmitted to you.
Franz Kafka -
The right understanding of any matter and a misunderstanding of the same matter do not wholly exclude each other.
Franz Kafka -
It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves.
Franz Kafka -
Paths are made by walking.
Franz Kafka
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Just because your doctor has a name for your condition, doesn't mean he knows what it is.
Franz Kafka -
Adam's first domestic pet after the expulsion from Paradise was the serpent.
Franz Kafka -
The fact that there is nothing but a spiritual world deprives us of hope and gives us certainty.
Franz Kafka -
Anybody who preserves the ability to recognize beauty will never get old.
Franz Kafka