Franz Kafka quotes

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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.
Franz Kafka
Life
Hesitation
It is comforting to reflect that the disproportion of things in the world seems to be only arithmetical.
Franz Kafka
World
In a certain sense the Good is comfortless.
Franz Kafka
Sense
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.
Franz Kafka
Ecstasy
Feet
Present
Will
World
A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.
Franz Kafka
Sea
A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.
Franz Kafka
Sea
A first sign of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die.
Franz Kafka
Beginning
First
Understanding
A stair not worn hollow by footsteps is, regarded from its own point of view, only a boring something made of wood.
Franz Kafka
Footsteps
Wood
Always first draw fresh breath after outbursts of vanity and complacency.
Franz Kafka
First
Vanity
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.
Franz Kafka
Life
Despair
Fate
Needs
Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
Franz Kafka
Beauty
Ability
Old
Association with human beings lures one into self-observation.
Franz Kafka
Self
Don Quixote's misfortune is not his imagination, but Sancho Panza.
Franz Kafka
Imagination
Misfortune
Believing in progress does not mean believing that any progress has yet been made.
Franz Kafka
Progress
Heaven is dumb, echoing only the dumb.
Franz Kafka
Dumb
Heaven