Expulsion from Paradise is in its main aspect eternal: that is to say, although expulsion from Paradise is final, and life in theworld unavoidable, the eternity of the process (or, expressed in temporal terms, the eternal repetition of the process) nevertheless makes it possible not only that we might remain in Paradise permanently, but that we may in fact be there permanently, no matter whether we know it here or not.
Franz KafkaTime is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible, then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres.
Franz KafkaWriting is a deeper sleep than death. Just as one wouldn't pull a corpse from its grave, I can't be dragged from my desk at night.
Franz KafkaSuffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive.
Franz KafkaOne has just been sent out as a biblical dove, has found nothing green, and slips back into the darkness of the Ark
Franz KafkaMartyrs do not underrate the body, they allow it to be elevated on the cross. In this they are at one with their antagonists.
Franz KafkaIn one and the same human being there are cognitions that, however utterly dissimilar they are, yet have one and the same object,so that one can only conclude that there are different subjects in one and the same human being.
Franz KafkaHold fast to the diary from today on! Write regularly! Don't surrender! Even if no salvation should come, I want to be worthy of it every moment.
Franz KafkaThe existence of the writer is an argument against the existence of the soul, for the soul has obviously taken flight from the real ego, but not improved itself, only become a writer.
Franz KafkaThat's how it will be, except that in reality, both today and later, one will stand there with a palpable body and a real head, a real forehead, that is, for smiting on with one's hand.
Franz KafkaIf what was supposed to have been destroyed in Paradise was destructible, then it was not decisive; but if it was indestructible, then we are living in a false belief.
Franz KafkaIn theory there is a possibility of perfect happiness: To believe in the indestructible element within one, and not to strive towards it.
Franz KafkaSo then you’re free?’ ‘Yes, I’m free,’ said Karl, and nothing seemed more worthless than his freedom.
Franz KafkaHe is a free and secure citizen of the world because he is on a chain that is long enough to allow him access to all parts of the earth, and yet not so long that he could be swept over the edge of it.
Franz KafkaWhen one has once accepted and absorbed Evil, it no longer demands the unfitness of the means. The ulterior motives with which youabsorb and assimilate Evil are not your own but those of Evil.... Evil is whatever distracts. Evil knows of the Good, but Good does not know of Evil. Knowledge of oneself is something only Evil has. One means that Evil has is the dialogue.... One cannot pay Evil in installments--and one always keeps on trying to.
Franz KafkaIn Paradise, as always: that which causes the sin and that which recognizes it for what it is are one. The clear conscience is Evil, which is so entirely victorious that it does not any longer consider the leap from left to right necessary.
Franz KafkaNothing, you know, gives the body greater satisfaction than ordering people about, or at least believing in one's ability to do so.
Franz KafkaWe were expelled from Paradise, but it was not destroyed. The expulsion from Paradise was in one sense a piece of good fortune, for if we had not been expelled, Paradise would have had to be destroyed.
Franz KafkaEvery thing that you love, you will eventually lose, but in the end, love will return in a different form.
Franz KafkaWritten kisses never arrive at their destination; the ghosts drink them up along the way.
Franz KafkaWritten kisses don't reach their destination, rather they are drunk on the way by the ghosts.
Franz KafkaNo matter how much you keep encouraging someone who is blindfolded to stare through the cloth, he still won’t see a thing.".
Franz KafkaIf there is a transmigration of souls then I am not yet on the bottom rung. My life is a hesitation before birth.
Franz KafkaI made the remark that I don't avoid people in order to live quietly, but rather in order to be able to die quietly.
Franz KafkaArt is for the artist is only suffering through which he releases himself for further suffering.
Franz KafkaEvery word first looks around in every direction before letting itself be written down by me.
Franz KafkaSelf-control means wanting to be effective at some random point in the infinite radiations of my spiritual existence.
Franz KafkaHiding places there are innumerable, escape is only one, but possibilities of escape, again, are as many as hiding places.
Franz KafkaI hate everything that does not relate to literature, conversations bore me (even if they relate to literature), to visit people bores me, the sorrows and joys of my relatives bore me to the very soul. Conversation takes the importance, the seriousness, the truth, out of everything I think.
Franz Kafka