Always first draw fresh breath after outbursts of vanity and complacency.

Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested.

there is nothing bad to fear; once you have crossed that threshold, all is well. Another world, and you do not have to speak

The truth is always an abyss. One must — as in a swimming pool — dare to dive from the quivering springboard of trivial everyday experience and sink into the depths, in order to later rise again — laughing and fighting for breath — to the now doubly illuminated surface of things.

German is my mother tongue and as such more natural to me, but I consider Czech much more affectionate, which is why your letter removes several uncertainties; I see you more clearly, the movements of your body, your hands, so quick, so resolute, it’s almost like a meeting.

The worries that are the burden of which the privileged person makes an excuse in dealing with the oppressed person are in fact the worries about preserving his privileged condition.

In a certain sense the Good is comfortless.