Franz Kafka quotes - page 11

In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite. (Franz Kafka)
Some books seem like a key to unfamiliar rooms in one's own castle. View quote
Franz Kafka
All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers is contained in the dog. View quote
Franz Kafka
Either the world is so tiny or we are enormous; in either case, we fill it completely. View quote
Franz Kafka
Everyone carries a room about inside him. This fact can even be proved by means of the sense of hearing. If someone walks fast and one pricks up one's ears and listens, say in the night, when everything round about is quiet, one hears, for instance, the rattling of a mirror not quite firmly fastened to the wall. View quote
Franz Kafka
Life's splendor forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come. View quote
Franz Kafka
Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested. View quote
Franz Kafka
A book should serve as an axe to the ice inside us. View quote
Franz Kafka
A man of action forced into a state of thought is unhappy until he can get out of it. View quote
Franz Kafka
Death confronts us not unlike the historical battle scene that hangs on the wall of the classroom. It is our task to obscure or quite obliterate the picture by our deeds while we are still in this world. View quote
Franz Kafka
Only our concept of time makes it possible for us to speak of the Day of Judgment by that name in reality it is a summary court in perpetual session. (Franz Kafka)
But Gregor understood easily that it was not only consideration for him which prevented their moving, for he could easily have been transported in a suitable crate with a few air holes; what mainly prevented the family from moving was their complete hopelessness and the thought that they had been struck by a misfortune as none of their relatives and acquaintances had ever been hit. View quote
Franz Kafka
The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary, he will come only one day after his arrival, he will not come on the last day, but on the last day of all. View quote
Franz Kafka
It's sometimes quite astonishing that a single, average life is enough to encompass so much that it's at all possible ever to have any success in one's work here. View quote
Franz Kafka
His biggest misgiving came from his concern about the loud crash that was bound to occur and would probably create, if not terror, at least anxiety behind all the doors. But that would have to be risked. View quote
Franz Kafka
If I didn't have my parents to think about I'd have given in my notice a long time ago, I'd have gone up to the boss and told him just what I think, tell him everything I would, let him know just what I feel. He'd fall right off his desk! And it's a funny sort of business to be sitting up there at your desk, talking down at your subordinates from up there, especially when you have to go right up close because the boss is hard of hearing. View quote
Franz Kafka
If they were shocked, then Gregor had no further responsibility and could be calm. But if they took everything calmly, he he, too, had no reason to get excited and could, if he hurried, actually be at the station by eight o'clock. View quote
Franz Kafka
There they lay, but not in the forgetfulness of the previous night. She was seeking and he was seeking, they raged and contorted their faces and bored their heads into each others bosom in the urgency of seeking something, and their embraces and their tossing limbs did not avail to make them forget, but only reminded them of what they sought. View quote
Franz Kafka
If I could drown in sleep as I drown in fear I would be no longer alive. View quote
Franz Kafka
But I'm not guilty,” said K. "there's been a mistake. How is it even possible for someone to be guilty? We're all human beings here, one like the other.” "That is true” said the priest "but that is how the guilty speak. View quote
Franz Kafka
It is entirely conceivable that life's splendour forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. (Franz Kafka)
For myself I am too heavy, and for you too light. View quote
Franz Kafka
One of the first signs of the beginnings of understanding is the wish to die. This life appears unbearable, another unattainable. One is no longer ashamed of wanting to die; one asks to be moved from the old cell, which one hates, to a new one, which one will only in time come to hate. View quote
Franz Kafka
Calm -indeed the calmest- reflection might be better than the most confused decisions. View quote
Franz Kafka
I can't think of anything to write about, I'm just walking around here between the lines, under the light of your eyes, in the breadth of your mouth as in a beautiful happy day, which remains beautiful and happy, even when the head is sick and tired. View quote
Franz Kafka