“I feel an unhappiness which almost dismembers me, and at the same time am convinced of its necessity”

—  Franz Kafka

Source: Diaries of Franz Kafka

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Franz Kafka photo
Franz Kafka 266
author 1883–1924

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Variant translations:
And yet, and yet... Denying temporal succession, denying the self, denying the astronomical universe, are obvious acts of desperation and secret consolation. Our fate (unlike the hell of Swedenborg or the hell of Tibetan mythology) is not frightful because it is unreal; it is frightful because it is irreversible and ironclad. Time is the thing I am made of. Time is a river that sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that tears me apart, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire. The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges.
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