Quotes from Gustav Janouch

It is literature,' said Kafka smiling. 'Flight from reality.' 'So poetry is lies?' 'No. Poetry is a condensate, an essence. Literature, on the other hand, is a relaxation, a means of pleasure which alleviates the unconscious life, a narcotic.' 'And poetry?' 'Poetry is exactly the opposite. Poetry is an awakening.' 'So poetry tends towards religion.' 'I would not say that. But certainly to prayer.

Words prepare the way for deeds to come, detonate future explosions.

One cannot break one's chains when there are no chains to be seen. One's imprisonment is therefore organized as a perfectly ordinary, not over-comfortable form of daily life. Everything looks as if it were made of solid, lasting stuff. But on the contrary it is a life in which one is falling towards an abyss. It isn't visible. But if one closes one's eyes, one can hear its rush and roar.

Genuine and lasting strength consists in bearing things.

What one writes is only the ashes of one's experience.

To je zabluda. Knjiga ne može da zameni svet. To je nemogu?no. U životu sve ima svoj smisao i svoj zadatak koji ne mogu bez ostatka biti ispunjeni ne?im drugim. Nije mogu?no, na primer, proživeti nešto posredstvom nekog zamenika. Tako je i sa svetom i knjigom. Pokušavamo da život zatvorimo u knjige kao pticu peva?icu u kavez. Ali, u tome ne uspevamo. Naprotiv! ?ovek od knjiških apstrakcija ne izgra?uje ništa drugo nego sistem u vidu kaveza za sebe.

Are you as lonely as Kaspar Hauser?" "Much worse than Kaspar Hauser. I'm as lonely as myself.