Quotes from Franz Kafka

I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, What are we reading for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to.

pytajÄ… wszyscy jeden przez drugiego. Wydaje siÄ™, jakby chciano w ten sposób zatrze? Å›lad prawdziwych pytaÅ".

Probably I am constitutionally not lazy at all, but there was nothing for me to do.

After tormenting myself for a long time, i am stopping

There's no way at all that you can defend yourself against this Court, you have to admit your guilt. Make a full confession as soon as you can

For me you took on the enigmatic quality that all tyrants have whose rights are based on their person and not on reason. At least so it seemed to me.

I've forgotten to ask you what kind of acquittal you want. There are three possibilities: actual acquittal, apparent acquittal, and prolongation.

It's just that I belong in the quietest quiet, that's what's right for me

Thus spake Schubal. It was, to be sure, a clear and manly statement, and from the altered expression of the listeners one might have thought they were hearing a human voice for the first time after a long interval.

Existiam objeções que tinham sido esquecidas? Sem dúvida, estas existiam. A lógica, na verdade, é inabalável, mas ela não resiste a uma pessoa que quer viver.

Her ÅŸeyi olduÄŸu gibi rapor edecek misiniz? Ä°nsan baz? anlarda çal??amayacak halde olabilir, ama bu anlar eski baÅŸar?lar?n hat?rlanmas? ve daha sonra, engel ortadan kald?r?ld???nda, insan?n ÅŸüphesiz daha bir azimle ve gayretle çal??aca??n?n düÅŸünülmesi için de en iyi zamand?r.

Whenever K. started shouting they became calm, almost sad, confusing him or, in a way, bringing him back to his senses.

Oh dear, said the mouse, the world shrinks with every passing day. At first it was so vast I was afraid; I ran on further and was cheered when at last, in the distance, to the right and to the left, I saw walls; but these long walls converge on one another so quickly that I'm already in the final room, and there, in the corner, lies the trap into which I'm running. You just have to change direction, said the cat, and ate him.

Two alternatives: either to make oneself infinitesimally small, or to be so. The former is perfection and hence inaction; the latter a beginning and therefore action.

we don't have to fly straight into the sun, but we do need to creep into some tidy little place on earth where the sun sometime shines and where we can find a little warmth for ourselves.

beware of thinking of life as commonplace, if by commonplace you mean monotonous, simple, petty. Life is merely terrible;

Was ist Liebe? Das ist doch ganz einfach! Liebe ist alles, was unser Leben steigert, erweitert, bereichert. Nach allen Höhen und Tiefen. Die Liebe ist so unproblematisch wie ein Fahrzeug. Problematisch sind nur Lenker, die Fahrgäste und die Straße.

Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one's own self.

I long for you; I who usually long without longing, as though I am unconscious and absorbed in neutrality and apathy, really, utterly long for every bit of you.

Würde ich einmal ein größeres Ganzes schreiben können, wohlgebildet vom Anfang bis zum Ende, dann könnte sich auch die Geschichte niemals endgiltig von mir loslösen und ich dürfte ruhig und mit offenen Augen als Blutsverwandter einer gesunden Geschichte ihrer Vorlesung zuhören, so aber lauft jedes Stückchen der Geschichte heimatlos herum und treibt mich in die entgegengesetzte Richtung. Tagebucheintrag vom 5. November 1911.

Not everyone can see the truth, but he can be it

De când m? cunosc am avut anxiet??i atât de adânci în privinÅ£a afirm?rii propriei mele existenÅ£e spirituale,încât tot restul mi-a r?mas indiferent.

I just wanted to say, the fact that I know you well doesn't protect me much, it only relieves you of the effort of telling me lies.

We are not in general a music-loving race. Tranquil peace is the music we love best; our life is hard, we are no longer able, even on occasions when we have tried to shake off the cares of daily life, to rise to anything so high and remote from our usual routine as music.