Franz Kafka

Martyrs do not underrate the body, they allow it to be elevated on the cross. In this they are at one with their antagonists.

We all have wings, but they have not been of any avail to us and if we could tear them off, we would do so.

The relationship to one's fellow man is the relationship of prayer, the relationship to oneself is the relationship of striving; it is from prayer that one draws the strength for one's striving.

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.

The fact that our task is exactly commensurate with our life gives it the appearance of being infinite.

By imposing too great a responsibility, or rather, all responsibility, on yourself, you crush yourself.

Believing in progress does not mean believing that any progress has yet been made.

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.

It is not necessary that you leave the house. Remain at your table and listen. Do not even listen, only wait. Do not even wait, be wholly still and alone. The world will present itself to you for its unmasking, it can do no other, in ecstasy it will writhe at your feet.

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.

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

Self-control means wanting to be effective at some random point in the infinite radiations of my spiritual existence.

Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.

It is comforting to reflect that the disproportion of things in the world seems to be only arithmetical.

Writers speak stench.

A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.

Don't despair, not even over the fact that you don't despair.

Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive.

If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without climbing it, it would have been permitted.