Drawing from Kafka's rich oeuvre, these quotes encapsulate the essence of his philosophical musings and artistic genius. They beckon us to delve into the labyrinth of the human psyche, exploring themes of alienation, identity, and the relentless quest for meaning. As we immerse ourselves in Kafka's enigmatic universe, we find ourselves reflecting on the intricacies of existence, the inevitability of change, and the eternal struggle between the individual and the societal constructs that bind us. In this way, "Quotes by Franz Kafka" transcend mere words, becoming a beacon of enlightenment and a source of eternal contemplation.
Quotes By Franz Kafka (2024)
Explore the profound wisdom and haunting insights of Franz Kafka through this curated collection of unique quotes. From existential musings to reflections on the human condition, Kafka's words resonate with timeless relevance, offering readers a glimpse into the depths of the human soul.
"In the struggle between yourself and the world, side with the world."
"Don't despair, not even over the fact that you don't despair."
"I am a cage, in search of a bird."
"A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us."
"Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable."
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen."
"The meaning of life is that it stops."
"Paths are made by walking."
"Believing in progress does not mean believing that any progress has yet been made."
"Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty."
"Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."
"Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion."
"The true way goes over a rope that is not stretched at any great height but just above the ground."
"It seems more designed to make people stumble than to be walked upon."
"The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
"I usually solve problems by letting them devour me."
"I am a memory come alive."
"Beyond a certain point, there is no return. This point has to be reached."
"There are two cardinal sins from which all others spring: impatience and laziness."
"There are countless reasons why you cannot be in love. Perhaps you shouldn’t be so indignant about them, but accept the fact calmly."
"All knowledge, the totality of all questions and answers, is contained in the dog."
"The world will laugh at you, but only you will laugh at the world, for you'll see that it's far too busy wondering how to laugh at you to do so."
"Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."
"Art is the axe for the frozen sea within us."
"From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached."
"Better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have."
"So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being."
"Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy."
"I am free and that is why I am lost."
"I write differently from what I speak, I speak differently from what I think, I think differently from the way I ought to think, and so it all proceeds into deepest darkness."
"You can hold yourself back from the sufferings of the world, that is something you are free to do and it accords with your nature, but perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could avoid."
"I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself."
"Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly."
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
"There are some things one can only achieve by a deliberate leap in the opposite direction."
"Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one's own self."
"In man's struggle against the world, bet on the world."
"I have the true feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy."
"You can hold yourself back from the sufferings of the world; that is something you are free to do and it accords with your nature, but perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could avoid."
"The world will undoubtedly be happier when each person does their own thing."
"Believing means liberating the indestructible element in oneself, or, more accurately, liberating oneself, or, more accurately still, being indestructible, or, more accurately still, being."
"All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers, is contained in the dog."
"Leopards break into the temple and drink to the dregs what is in the sacrificial pitchers; this is repeated over and over again; finally it can be calculated in advance, and it becomes part of the ceremony."
"Beyond a certain point there is no return. This point has to be reached."
"Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive."
"My 'fear' is my substance, and probably the best part of me."
"There is an infinite amount of hope in the universe… but not for us."
"Beyond a certain point, the whole universe becomes a continuous process of initiation."
"I am constantly trying to communicate something incommunicable, to explain something inexplicable, to tell about something I only feel in my bones and which can only be experienced in those bones."
"The spiritual terror of the unknown is a tangible thing."
"A belief is like a guillotine, just as heavy, just as light."
"You are free and that is why you are lost."
"First impressions are always unreliable."
"A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity."
"If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without climbing it, it would have been permitted."
"The books we need are the kind that act upon us like a misfortune, that make us suffer like the death of someone we love more than ourselves, that make us feel as though we were on the verge of suicide, or lost in a forest remote from all human habitation—a book should serve as the axe for the frozen sea within us."
"The experience of life consists of the experience which the spirit has of itself in matter and as matter, in mind and as mind, in emotion, as emotion, etc."
"A faith like Job's—so desperate, so passionate, reaching through the foulness to the Lord of the fouled up world—has strength; has more than strength."
"A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us."
"In the fight between you and the world, back the world."
"I am in chains. Don't touch my chains."
"Every revolution evaporates, and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy."
"I am a lie who always speaks the truth."
"The true way goes over a rope which is not stretched at any great height but just above the ground. It seems more designed to make people stumble than to be walked upon."
"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."
"Believing means liberating the indestructible element in oneself, or, more accurately, liberating oneself, or, more accurately, being indestructible, or, more accurately, being."
"I can't think of any other way of living than growing with a human being."
"You are free, and that is why you are lost."
"All language is but a poor translation."
"I never wish to be easily defined."
"I am a memory condemned to repeat."
"Evil doesn't drive out good. But the point is that evil is so much more powerful."
"I am a dreamer; I dream of people."
"There is an infinite amount of hope in the universe … but not for us."
"All human errors are impatience, a premature breaking off of methodical procedure, an apparent fencing-in of what is apparently at issue."
"I need solitude for my writing; not like a hermit — that wouldn't be enough — but like a dead man."
"A first sign of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die."
"I do not read advertisements. I would spend all of my time wanting things."
"Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset."
"Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself."
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
"The infinite is silent."
"There are only two things: love, all sorts of love, with pretty girls, and the music of New Orleans or Duke Ellington."
"It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves."
"It is often safer to be in chains than to be free."
"I am separated from men by a wide abyss, and I cannot bridge it."
"Simplicity is not a simple thing."
"Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."
"I need solitude for my writing; not 'like a hermit'—that wouldn't be enough—but like a dead man."
"There are two main human sins from which all the others derive: impatience and indolence. It was because of impatience that they were expelled from Paradise; it is because of indolence that they do not return."
"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."
"From a certain point onward, there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached."
"Leopards break into the temple and drink to the dregs what is in the sacrificial pitchers; this is repeated over and over again; finally it can be calculated in advance, and it becomes a part of the ceremony."
"There are only two things: love, all sorts of love, with pretty girls, and the music of New Orleans or Duke Ellington. Everything else ought to go, because everything else is ugly."
"Believing means liberating the indestructible element in oneself, or, more accurately, letting it be liberated in us."
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quite still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
"I am a sacrifice to literature."
"In the struggle between yourself and the world, second the world."
"Slept, awoke, slept, awoke, miserable life."
"The dialect of our tribe is difficult, but not impossible to learn."
"There are two main human sins from which all the others derive: impatience and indolence. It was because of impatience that they were expelled from Paradise, it is because of indolence that they do not return."
"One can never know for sure what a deserted area can look like."
"My solitude doesn't depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company."
"The indestructible is one: it is each individual human being and, at the same time, it is common to all, hence the incomparably indivisible union that exists between human beings."
"A man cannot live without a steady faith in something indestructible within him."
Delving into the profound and enigmatic world of Franz Kafka's Quotes unveils layers of existential introspection and philosophical contemplation. His words resonate with a timeless relevance, challenging societal norms and probing the depths of human consciousness. Through Kafka's lens, we glimpse into the intricacies of the human condition, grappling with themes of alienation, bureaucracy, and the relentless pursuit of identity. In essence, Quotes By Franz Kafka offers not just a glimpse into his literary genius, but also a mirror reflecting our own existential inquiries and the universal quest for truth and purpose.
