Franz Kafka
If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without climbing it, it would have been permitted.
A stair not worn hollow by footsteps is, regarded from its own point of view, only a boring something made of wood.
By imposing too great a responsibility, or rather, all responsibility, on yourself, you crush yourself.
A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.
Hesitation before birth. If there is a transmigration of souls then I am not yet on the bottom rung. My life is a hesitation before birth.
How can one take delight in the world unless one flees to it for refuge?
One must not cheat anyone, not even the world of its victory.
The spirit becomes free only when it ceases to be a support.
In argument similes are like songs in love; they describe much, but prove nothing.
It is only our conception of time that makes us call the Last Judgement by this name. It is, in fact, a kind of martial law.
Heaven is dumb, echoing only the dumb.
There is nothing besides a spiritual world; what we call the world of the senses is the Evil in the spiritual world, and what we call Evil is only the necessity of a moment in our eternal evolution.
Test yourself on mankind. It is something that makes the doubter doubt, the believer believe.
Anyone who cannot come to terms with his life while he is alive needs one hand to ward off a little his despair over his fate... but with his other hand he can note down what he sees among the ruins.
We are separated from God on two sides; the Fall separates us from Him, the Tree of Life separates Him from us.
Always first draw fresh breath after outbursts of vanity and complacency.
In a certain sense the Good is comfortless.
The Bible is a sanctum; the world, sputum.
The fact that our task is exactly commensurate with our life gives it the appearance of being infinite.
The thornbush is the old obstacle in the road. It must catch fire if you want to go further.
Tyranny or slavery, born of selfishness, are the two educational methods of parents; all gradations of tyranny or slavery.
A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.
Let me remind you of the old maxim: people under suspicion are better moving than at rest, since at rest they may be sitting in the balance without knowing it, being weighed together with their sins.
Don't despair, not even over the fact that you don't despair.
I do not read advertisements. I would spend all of my time wanting things.
No sooner said than done - so acts your man of worth.
It is comforting to reflect that the disproportion of things in the world seems to be only arithmetical.
If there is a transmigration of souls then I am not yet on the bottom rung. My life is a hesitation before birth.
One tells as few lies as possible only by telling as few lies as possible, and not by having the least possible opportunity to do so.
Martyrs do not underrate the body, they allow it to be elevated on the cross. In this they are at one with their antagonists.
Every thing that you love, you will eventually lose, but in the end, love will return in a different form.Collection: Love You
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.Collection: Inspirational
If you find someone who makes you smile, who checks up on you often to see if you're okay. Who watches out or you and wants the best for you. Who loves and respects you. Don't let them go. People like that are hard to find.Collection: People
I no longer know If I wish to drown myself in love, vodka or the sea.Collection: Sea
What if I slept a little more and forgot about all this nonsense.Collection: What If
It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves.Collection: Stupidity
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.Collection: Inspirational
We live in an age which is so possessed by demons, that soon we shall only be able to do goodness and justice in the deepest secrecy, as if it were a crime.Collection: Justice
Do not waste your time looking for an obstacle - maybe there is none.Collection: Waste
Anybody who preserves the ability to recognize beauty will never get old.Collection: Ability
Slept, awoke, slept, awoke, miserable life.Collection: Life
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.Collection: People
Paths are made by walkingCollection: Path
We need the books that affect us like a disasterCollection: Book
Please — consider me a dream.Collection: Dream
People label themselves with all sorts of adjectives. I can only pronounce myself as 'nauseatingly miserable beyond repair'.Collection: People
I can love only what I can place so high above me that I cannot reach it.Collection: I Can
I am a cage, in search of a bird.Collection: Bird
You are so vulnerably haunting. Your eeriness is terrifyingly irresistible.Collection: Haunting