Franz Kafka Quotes: 266 Quotes on Love, Freedom, and the Complexities of Human Existence

65; a slight variant of this statement was later published in Parables and Paradoxes (1946):
The expulsion from Paradise is in its main significance eternal:
Consequently the expulsion from Paradise is final, and life in this world irrevocable, but the eternal nature of the occurrence (or, temporally expressed, the eternal recapitulation of the occurrence) makes it nevertheless possible that not only could we live continuously in Paradise, but that we are continuously there in actual fact, no matter whether we know it here or not.
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

Life , World

“Two possibilities: making oneself infinitely small or being so. The second is perfection, that is to say, inactivity, the first is beginning, that is to say, action.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

90
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

Perfection

“Anyone who believes cannot experience miracles. By day one does not see any stars. Anyone who does miracles says: I cannot let go of the earth.”

Franz Kafka book The Blue Octavo Notebooks

21 November 1917
Variant translation: Anyone who believes cannot experience miracles. By day one cannot see any stars.
The Blue Octavo Notebooks (1954)

Star

“Hiding places there are innumerable, escape is only one, but possibilities for escape, again, are as many as hiding places. There is a goal, but no way; what we call a way is hesitation.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

27
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

Way

“Plenty of hope — for God — no end of hope — only not for us.”

Franz Kafka

In conversation with Max Brod (1920), after Brod had queried on there being "hope outside this manifestation of the world that we know", as quoted in Franz Kafka: A Biography [Franz Kafka, eine Biographie] (1937) by Max Brod, as translated by G. Humphreys Roberts and Richard Winston (1947; 1960); at least as early as Franz Kafka : Parable and Paradox (1962) by Heinz Politzer, this assertion has often appeared paraphrased as: "There is hope, but not for us", and sometimes "There is hope — only not for us."
Variant translations:
Oh, plenty of hope, an infinite amount of hope — but not for us.
As translated in Weimar Intellectuals and the Threat of Modernity (1988) by Dagmar Barnouw, p. 187

God , Hope

“Even that has its reason; it is often better to be in chains than to be free.”

Franz Kafka book The Trial

Source: The Trial (1920), Ch. 8

“"Hey, there’s something falling down in there," said the chief clerk. Gregor tried to suppose to himself that what had happened to him might some day also happen to the chief clerk. There was no denying that anything was possible.”

Franz Kafka book The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis (1915)

“Leopards break into the temple and drink to the dregs what is in the sacrificial pitchers; this is repeated over and over again; finally it can be calculated in advance, and it becomes a part of the ceremony.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

20 (10 November 1917)
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

Drink , Parting

“This question of yours, Sir, about my being a house painter — or rather, not a question, you simply made a statement — is typical of the whole character of this trial that is being foisted on me. You may object that it is not a trial at all; you are quite right, for it is only a trial if I recognize it as such. But for the moment I do recognize it, on grounds of compassion, as it were. One can't regard it except with compassion, if one is to regard it at all. I do not say that your procedure is contemptible, but I should like to present that epithet to you for your private consumption.”

Franz Kafka book The Trial

Josef K. in Ch. 2
Variant translation: Your question, Mr. Examining Magistrate, as to whether I am a house-painter — although you did not ask a question at all, you made a statement — typifies exactly the kind of proceedings that are being instituted against me.
The Trial (1920)

Question , Housing

“It is only our conception of time that makes us call the Last Judgment by this name. It is, in fact, a kind of martial law.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

40
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

Law , Time

“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.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

58
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

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

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

33
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

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

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

18; (9 November 1917) a slight variant of this was published in Parables and Paradoxes (1946): If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without ascending it, the work would have been permitted.
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

“When . . . some leisurely passer-by stopped . . . and spoke of cheating, that was in its way the stupidest lie ever invented by indifference and inborn malice, since it was not the hunger artist who was cheating, he was working honestly, but the world was cheating him of his reward.”

Franz Kafka

"A Hunger Artist"
The Complete Stories (1971)

Hunger , Lie , World , Way

“Why do we complain about the Fall? It is not on its account that we were expelled from Paradise, but on account of the Tree of Life, lest we might eat of it.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

82, a slight variant of this was later published in Parables and Paradoxes (1946):
Why do we lament over the fall of man? We were not driven out of Paradise because of it, but because of the Tree of Life, that we might not eat of it.
"Paradise"
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

Life , Tree

“He thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister's. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful reflection until the tower clock struck three in the morning. He still saw that outside the window everything was beginning to grow light. Then, without his consent, his head sank down to the floor, and from his nostrils streamed his last weak breath.”

Franz Kafka book The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis (1915)

Love , Family , Peace , Sister

“"It cannot be said that we are lacking in faith. Even the simple fact of our life is of a faith-value that can never be exhausted.” “You suggest there is some faith-value in this? One cannot not-live, after all.” “It is precisely in this ‘Cannot, after all’ that the mad strength of faith lies; it is in this negation that it takes on form.”
There is no need for you to leave the house. Stay at your table and listen. Don’t even listen, just wait. Don’t even wait, be completely quiet and alone. The world will offer itself to you to be unmasked; it can’t do otherwise; in raptures it will writhe before you.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

109
Variant translations:
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.
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.
You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even 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.
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

Life , World , Faith , Waiting

“Oh well, memories,” said I. “Yes, even remembering in itself is sad, yet how much more its object! Don’t let yourself in for things like that, it’s not for you and it’s not for me. It only weakens one’s present position without strengthening the former one — nothing is more obvious — quite apart from the fact that the former one doesn’t need strengthening.”

Franz Kafka

"Description of a Struggle"
The Complete Stories (1971)

Sadness , Memory

“His weariness is that of the gladiator after the combat; his work was the whitewashing of a corner in a state official's office.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

34
Variant translation: His exhaustion is that of the gladiator after the fight, his work was the whitewashing of one corner in a clerk’s office.
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

“"You asking me the way?" "Yes," I said, "since I can't find it myself." "Give it up! Give it up!" said he, and turned with a sudden jerk, like someone who wants to be alone with his laughter.”

Franz Kafka

Variant translation: The Policeman said to me, "You want to know the way? Give up! Just give up!" And he turned away like a man that wants to be alone with his laughter.
The Complete Stories (1971)

Jerk , Way , Laughter

“The fact that there is nothing but a spiritual world deprives us of hope and gives us certainty.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

62
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

World , Hope

“Towards the avoidance of a piece of verbal confusion: What is intended to be actively destroyed must first of all have been firmly grasped; what crumbles away crumbles away, but cannot be destroyed.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

91
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

“What is gayer than believing in a household god?”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

68
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

God

“The bliss of murder! The relief, the soaring ecstasy from the shedding of another’s blood! Wese, old nightbird, friend, alehouse crony, you are oozing away into the dark earth below the street. Why aren’t you simply a bladder of blood so that I could stamp on you and make you vanish into nothingness? Not all we want comes true, not all the dreams that blossomed have borne fruit, your solid remains lie here, already indifferent to every kick. What’s the good of the dumb question you are asking?”

Franz Kafka book A Fratricide

"A Fratricide" (1917)

Lie , Dreams , Question , Indifference

“How much my life has changed, and yet how unchanged it has remained at bottom! When I think back and recall the time when I was still a member of the canine community, sharing in all its preoccupations, a dog among dogs, I find on closer examination that from the very beginning I sensed some discrepancy, some little maladjustment, causing a slight feeling of discomfort which not even the most decorous public functions could eliminate; more, that sometimes, no, not sometimes, but very often, the mere look of some fellow dog of my own circle that I was fond of, the mere look of him, as if I had just caught it for the first time, would fill me with helpless embarrassment and fear, even with despair.”

Franz Kafka book Investigations of a Dog

"Investigations of a Dog"
The Complete Stories (1971)

Life , Fear , Dogs , Feeling

“Eternal childhood. Life calls again.
It is entirely conceivable that life’s splendour forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come. This is the essence of magic, which does not create but summons.”

Franz Kafka

18 October 1921
The Diaries of Franz Kafka 1910-1923 (1948)

Life , Hostility , Waiting

“A cage went in search of a bird.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918), 16

Bird , Search

“How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all this nonsense.”

Franz Kafka book The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis (1915)

Sleep , Forgetting

“One idiot is one idiot. Two idiots are two idiots. Ten thousand idiots are a political party.”

Franz Kafka

Was written in a slightly different way by Leo Longanesi in Italian, above form has been attributed to Kafka without evidence.
Misattributed
Source: One Idiot Is One Idiot. Two Idiots Are Two Idiots. Ten Thousand Idiots Are a Political Party, Quote Investigator, 2021-10-08 https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/10/08/idiots/,