Quotes from book
On Parables

"On Parables" is a short story fragment by Franz Kafka. It was not published until 1931, seven years after his death. Max Brod selected stories and published them in the collection Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections .The piece consists of a narrative on the merit of parables. The debate is about whether they are useful, or merely folklore handed down from one generation to the next. The narrator mentions that parables are not necessarily useful; after all, they've been around for many years and yet, despite their "wisdom," people still struggle with the same difficulties. The story ends by claiming that the text in itself can be interpreted as a parable.


Franz Kafka photo

“If you only followed the parables you yourselves would become parables and with that rid of all your daily cares.”

"On Parables" (1922), translation by Willa and Edwin Muir
The Complete Stories (1971)
Context: A man once said: Why such reluctance? If you only followed the parables you yourselves would become parables and with that rid of all your daily cares.
Another said: I bet that is also a parable.
The first said: You have won.
The second said: But unfortunately only in parable.
The first said: No, in reality: in parable you have lost.

Similar authors

Franz Kafka photo
Franz Kafka 266
author 1883–1924
H.P. Lovecraft photo
H.P. Lovecraft 203
American author
Friedrich Dürrenmatt photo
Friedrich Dürrenmatt 19
Swiss author and dramatist
Napoleon Hill photo
Napoleon Hill 104
American author
Yukio Mishima photo
Yukio Mishima 60
Japanese author
A.A. Milne photo
A.A. Milne 169
British author
Terry Pratchett photo
Terry Pratchett 796
English author
David Grossman photo
David Grossman 1
Israeli author
Stephen King photo
Stephen King 733
American author
Robert T. Kiyosaki photo
Robert T. Kiyosaki 151
American finance author , investor