Franz Kafka quotes - page 5

Like tired dogs they stand there, because they use up all their strength in remaining upright in one's memory. (Franz Kafka)
This question of yours, Sir, about my being a house painter - or rather, not a question, you simply made a statement - is typical of the whole character of this trial that is being foisted on me. You may object that it is not a trial at all; you are quite right, for it is only a trial if I recognize it as such. But for the moment I do recognize it, on grounds of compassion, as it were. One can't regard it except with compassion, if one is to regard it at all. I do not say that your procedure is contemptible, but I should like to present that epithet to you for your private consumption. View quote
Franz Kafka
Eternal childhood. Life calls again. 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. 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. This is the essence of magic, which does not create but summons. View quote
Franz Kafka
I am a cage, in search of a bird. View quote
Franz Kafka
Every thing that you love, you will eventually lose, but in the end, love will return in a different form. View quote
Franz Kafka
Please - consider me a dream. View quote
Franz Kafka
I never wish to be easily defined. I'd rather float over other people's minds as something strictly fluid and non-perceivable; more like a transparent, paradoxically iridescent creature rather than an actual person. View quote
Franz Kafka
People label themselves with all sorts of adjectives. I can only pronounce myself as 'nauseatingly miserable beyond repair'. View quote
Franz Kafka
I'm tired, can't think of anything and want only to lay my face in your lap, feel your hand on my head and remain like that through all eternity. View quote
Franz Kafka
Better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have. View quote
Franz Kafka
I usually solve problems by letting them devour me. (Franz Kafka)
In a way, you are poetry material; You are full of cloudy subtleties I am willing to spend a lifetime figuring out. Words burst in your essence and you carry their dust in the pores of your ethereal individuality. View quote
Franz Kafka
If you become involved with me, you will be throwing yourself into the abyss. View quote
Franz Kafka
First impressions are always unreliable. View quote
Franz Kafka
He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn't yet lived. View quote
Franz Kafka
Isolation is a way to know ourselves. View quote
Franz Kafka
Last night I dreamed about you. What happened in detail I can hardly remember, all I know is that we kept merging into one another. I was you, you were me. Finally you somehow caught fire. View quote
Franz Kafka
I can love only what I can place so high above me that I cannot reach it. View quote
Franz Kafka
You can choose to be free, but it's last decision you'll ever make. View quote
Franz Kafka
From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached. View quote
Franz Kafka
I lack nothing. I only needed myself. (Franz Kafka)
I miss you deeply, unfathomably, senselessly, terribly. View quote
Franz Kafka
We need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. View quote
Franz Kafka
The man in ecstasy and the man drowning: both raise their arms. View quote
Franz Kafka
Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one's own self. View quote
Franz Kafka