Quotes from Franz Kafka

Their inability to disengage from work in the evening deprives them of the only possible respite from labor, and life without some kind of rest is torture. The worst irony is that taking care of the verminous Gregor is a filthy chore. Gregor, by escaping work, has not only forced his former dependents into labor, but has become work: disgusting work that only his disgraced family can perform.

The dogs are still playing in the yard, but the quarry will not escape them, never mind how fast it is running through the forest already.

Der wahre Weg geht über ein Seil, das nicht in der Höhe gespannt ist, sondern knapp über dem Boden. Es scheint mehr bestimmt stolpern zu machen, als begangen zu werden.

Si los nómades se encontraran sin carne, nadie sabe lo que se les ocurriría hacer; por otra parte, quien sabe lo que se les ocurriría hacer comiendo carne todos los días.

Dann aber kehrte er zu seiner Arbeit zurück, so wie wenn nichts geschehen wäre.« Das ist eine Bemerkung, die uns aus einer unklaren Fülle alter Erzählungen geläufig ist, obwohl sie vielleicht in keiner vorkommt.

Desafortunadamente el inconveniente principal, ajeno a los casos mismos, es que parece que espiritualmente estoy imposibilitado para contraer matrimonio. Esto se puede comprobar en el hecho de que desde el instante en que tomo esa determinación, no puedo dormir, siento que la cabeza me hierve día y noche, una gran desesperación e irascibilidad se apoderan de mi, y al caminar me tambaleó de un lado a otro (p. 66)

anything that man could approve must be worthless.

Perhaps if he were to open the door to the next room, or even the door to the hall, the two would not dare stop him, perhaps the best solution would be to bring the whole matter to a head. But then they might indeed grab him, and once subdued he would lose any degree of superiority he might still hold over them. Therefore he preferred the safety of whatever solution would surely arise in the natural course of things and returned to his room without a further word having passed on either side.

Dagegen kann ich jeden Augenblick beweisen, daß meine Erziehung einen anderen Menschen aus mir machen wollte als den, der ich geworden bin. Den Schaden also, den mir meine Erzieher nach ihrer Absicht hätten zufügen können, den mache ich ihnen zum Vorwurf, verlange aus ihren Händen den Menschen, der ich jetzt bin, und da sie ihn mir nicht geben können, mache ich ihnen aus Vorwurf und Lachen ein Trommelschlagen bis in die jenseitige Welt hinein. Doch

Incluso ni siquiera tu desconfianza hacia los demás es tan grande como la que yo tengo en mí... (p. 74)

Podría decirse que el sistema de defensa de nuestra patria adolece de serios defectos. Hasta el momento no nos hemos ocupado de ellos sino de nuestros deberes cotidianos; pero algunos acontecimientos recientes nos inquietan.

Der Tod ist vor uns, etwa wie im Schulzimmer an der Wand ein Bild der Alexanderschlacht. Es kommt darauf an, durch unsere Taten noch in diesem Leben das Bild zu verdunkeln oder gar auszulöschen.

The smoke from Mr Green's cigar, a present from Pollunder, of a thickness that his father would occasionally affirm existed, but had probably never witnessed with his own eyes, spread throughout the room, and carried Green's influence into nooks and corners in which he would personally never set foot.

If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for.

It is not necessary for you to leave the house. Stay at your table and listen. Don't even listen; just wait. Don't even wait; be utterly still and alone. The world will offer itself to you to be unmasked; it cannot do otherwise; it will writhe before you in ecstasy.

houses which in their totality cough and shiver with fever day and night, where one has to eat meat, where ex-hangmen dislocate one's arms if one resists the injections, and where beard-stroking Jewish doctors, as callous towards Jew as Christian, look on.

the task of literature is to reconnect us with feelings that might otherwise be unbearable to study but which desperately need our attention.

Non posso far capire né a te né a nessuno ciò che sento. Come potrei far capire perché sia così? Non riesco a farlo capire nemmeno a me stesso. Ma questa non è neanche la cosa più importante, la cosa più importante è evidente: nella cerchia intorno a me è impossibile vivere umanamente; tu lo vedi, e ancora non ci vuoi credere?

the uh fucking spine quote from metamorphosis

Zijn hersens kenden fijnere nuances dan moderne hersens kunnen bevatten.

Usted no pertenece al castillo, no es del pueblo, usted es un don nadie

I am a cage in search of a bird

Het proces de hopeloze strijd van het individu tegen de ongrijpbare machten in de buitenwereld die erop uit zijn het te vernietigen.

But above all, the center of all the misery remains. I cannot write; I have not done a line I respect; on the other hand, I have excised everything I wrote after Paris—it wasn't much! My whole body warns me against every word; every word, before it lets me write it down, first looks around in all directions. The sentences literally crumble before me; I see their insides and then have to stop quickly.