--- title: "175 Kafka Quotes by 113 authors" description: "Browse 175 Kafka quotes by 113 authors. Discover the best Kafka sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/782/rabisankar-bal-37057_quote_kafka-s-short-story-judgement-1901180_1901180.jpg" --- > [“Kafka’s short story ‘Judgement’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabisankar-bal/kafka-s-short-story-judgement/) [Rabisankar Bal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabisankar-bal/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/782/rabisankar-bal-37057_quote_kafka-s-short-story-judgement-1901180_1901180.jpg) > [I did my dissertation on Kafka.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-ware/i-did-my-dissertation-on-kafka/) [Jessie Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-ware/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/jessie-ware-16666_dissertation_i-did-my-dissertation-on-kafka-1030726_1030726.png) > [Your self-esteem is a notch below Kafka.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/your-self-esteem-is-a-notch-below-kafka/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/woody-allen-176_esteem_your-self-esteem-is-a-notch-below-kafka_1694913.jpg) > [“The world is a metaphor, Kafka Tamura.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-world-is-a-metaphor-kafka-tamura/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/haruki-murakami-21_kafka_the-world-is-a-metaphor-kafka-tamura-116_116135.jpg) > [“Kafka was a realist”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-lukacs/kafka-was-a-realist/) [Georg Lukacs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-lukacs/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4a/georg-lukacs-93695_quote_kafka-was-a-realist-1886409_1886409.jpg) > [If something's a little weird, it's Kafkaesque.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tomine/if-something-s-a-little-weird-it-s-kafkaesque/) [Adrian Tomine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tomine/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b7/adrian-tomine-11778_ifs_if-something-s-a-little-weird-it-s-kafka_1495148.jpg) > [If Franz Kafka were alive today he'd be writing about customer service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-alter/if-franz-kafka-were-alive-today-he-d-be-writing-about-customer-service/) [Jonathan Alter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-alter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13b/jonathan-alter-27761_alive_if-franz-kafka-were-alive-today-he-d-be_1766588.png) > [In Czechoslovakia, we consider Kafka a very funny man. A humorist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/in-czechoslovakia-we-consider-kafka-a-very-funny-man-a-humorist/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6aa/milos-forman-11744_czechoslovakia_in-czechoslovakia-we-consider-kafka-a-ve_1125279.png) > [“Kafka said, ‘All language is but a poor translation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandt-legg/kafka-said-all-language-is-but-a-poor-translation/) [Brandt Legg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandt-legg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de6/brandt-legg-17542_kafka_kafka-said-all-language-is-but-a-poor-tr_805737.jpg) > [Kafka didn't save me. He just told me I was drowning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/kafka-didn-t-save-me-he-just-told-me-i-was-drowning/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/mark-slouka-21874_drowning_kafka-didn-t-save-me-he-just-told-me-i-w_2877810.png) > [I love stories, I love myths, I love fairytales, I love Kafka.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-spektor/i-love-stories-i-love-myths-i-love-fairytales-i-love-kafka/) [Regina Spektor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-spektor/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/regina-spektor-3582_fairytale_i-love-stories-i-love-myths-i-love-fairy_859362.png) > [Kafka is still unrecognized. He thought he was a comic writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-fiedler/kafka-is-still-unrecognized-he-thought-he-was-a-comic-writer/) [Leslie Fiedler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-fiedler/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e5/leslie-fiedler-13246_comic_kafka-is-still-unrecognized-he-thought-h_1653960.png) > [I learned my realism from guys like Kafka.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/i-learned-my-realism-from-guys-like-kafka/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f2/robert-coover-23200_guy_i-learned-my-realism-from-guys-like-kafk_147979.jpg) > [“Corporate alchemy isn’t just dark magic; it’s a tragic comedy, a satire as I imagine being written by Kafka on a bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rove-monteux/corporate-alchemy-isn-t-just-dark-magic-it-s-a-tragic-comedy-a-satire/) [Rove Monteux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rove-monteux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/035/rove-monteux-102810_bad-day_corporate-alchemy-isn-t-just-dark-magic_378882.jpg) > [“A quick look at the map of Europe suggests that Kafka either had a profound ignorance of geography or a profound grasp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hawes/a-quick-look-at-the-map-of-europe-suggests-that-kafka-either-had-a/) [James Hawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hawes/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45b/james-hawes-109322_game-play_a-quick-look-at-the-map-of-europe-sugges_1001833.jpg) > [If you have to deal with our friends at ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, it's like a Kafka novel. Files just disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/if-you-have-to-deal-with-our-friends-at-ice-immigration-and-customs/) [Jeb Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-bush/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1db/jeb-bush-1082_customs_if-you-have-to-deal-with-our-friends-at_2709337.png) > [I was warped early by Ray Bradbury and Edgar Allan Poe. I was very fond of Franz Kafka.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-was-warped-early-by-ray-bradbury-and-edgar-allan-poe-i-was-very/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/margaret-atwood-40_allan-poe_i-was-warped-early-by-ray-bradbury-and-e_626957.jpg) > [We're all vanishing organisms and disappearing creatures in space and time - that death sentence in space in time that Kafka talked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/we-re-all-vanishing-organisms-and-disappearing-creatures-in-space-and/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/cornel-west-708_creatures_we-re-all-vanishing-organisms-and-disapp_1051705.jpg) > [“si intentas pensar por ti mismo, te quedas solo. ========== Kafka en la Orilla (Haruki Murakami)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/si-intentas-pensar-por-ti-mismo-te-quedas-solo-kafka-en-la-orilla/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/078/anonymous-1_haruki-murakami_si-intentas-pensar-por-ti-mismo-te-queda_1720169.jpg) > [In Hollywood, you still have wonderful actors, but it's so hard to work there. To work becomes a Kafka nightmare - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-depardieu/in-hollywood-you-still-have-wonderful-actors-but-it-s-so-hard-to-work/) [Gerard Depardieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-depardieu/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/gerard-depardieu-17856_actor_in-hollywood-you-still-have-wonderful-ac_1279617.jpg) > [Kafka thought his stories were hilarious. We don't necessarily have that reaction to them, but he certainly laughed his head off every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/kafka-thought-his-stories-were-hilarious-we-don-t-necessarily-have/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a8/margaret-atwood-40_kafka_kafka-thought-his-stories-were-hilarious_2886465.jpg) > [I've been wrestling with Kafka since I was an adolescent. I think he's a great aphorist, a great letter writer, a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/i-ve-been-wrestling-with-kafka-since-i-was-an-adolescent-i-think-he-s/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/john-banville-2532_adolescent_i-ve-been-wrestling-with-kafka-since-i-w_2456868.png) > [“Nobody is going to help me. Al least no one has until now. So I have to make it on my own.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/nobody-is-going-to-help-me-al-least-no-one-has-until-now-so-i-have-to/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/haruki-murakami-21_crow_nobody-is-going-to-help-me-al-least-no-o_1507610.jpg) > [Notable American Women is a weird nougat of a book that suggests Coetzee, Kafka, Beckett, Barthelme, O'Brien, Orwell, Paley, Borges-and none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/notable-american-women-is-a-weird-nougat-of-a-book-that-suggests/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/padgett-powell-14196_american-woman_notable-american-women-is-a-weird-nougat_2493159.png) > [“Kafka said, A book must be an axe for the frozen sea inside us, which sounds great, but what good is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-rasmussen/kafka-said-a-book-must-be-an-axe-for-the-frozen-sea-inside-us-which/) [Matt Rasmussen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-rasmussen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3c/matt-rasmussen-65087_books_kafka-said-a-book-must-be-an-axe-for-the_2115227.png) > [“All right then, I’ll be mad at you on this score, which incidentally is no great misfortune, as things balance out quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/all-right-then-i-ll-be-mad-at-you-on-this-score-which-incidentally-is/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/franz-kafka-214_anger_all-right-then-i-ll-be-mad-at-you-on-thi_3150682.jpg) > [ \[Kafka\] transformed the profoundly antipoetic material of a highly bureaucratized society into the great poetry of the novel; he transformed a very… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/kafka-transformed-the-profoundly-antipoetic-material-of-a-highly/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/milan-kundera-120_beauty_kafka-transformed-the-profoundly-antipoe_2458536.jpg) > [It is not Kafka's fault that his wonderful writings have lately turned into a fad, and are read by people who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-hesse/it-is-not-kafka-s-fault-that-his-wonderful-writings-have-lately/) [Herman Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-hesse/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/herman-hesse-14882_books_it-is-not-kafka-s-fault-that-his-wonderf_3056476.jpg) > [“Self-control is something for which I do not strive. Self-control means wanting to be effective at some random point in the infinite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/self-control-is-something-for-which-i-do-not-strive-self-control/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/950/franz-kafka-214_discipline_self-control-is-something-for-which-i-do_684876.jpg) > [“When the little mouse, which was loved as none other was in the mouse-world, got into a trap one night and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/when-the-little-mouse-which-was-loved-as-none-other-was-in-the-mouse/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/franz-kafka-214_death_when-the-little-mouse-which-was-loved-as_982153.jpg) > [ I knew Richard E. Grant, and I went to him and said "Would you like to \[play Kafka in the film\]?" and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-capaldi/i-knew-richard-e-grant-and-i-went-to-him-and-said-would-you-like-to/) [Peter Capaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-capaldi/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/850/peter-capaldi-2535_bits_i-knew-richard-e-grant-and-i-went-to-him_238430.png) > [“Very often the test of one's allegiance to a cause or to a people is precisely the willingness to stay the course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/very-often-the-test-of-one-s-allegiance-to-a-cause-or-to-a-people-is/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/christopher-hitchens-117_1950s_very-often-the-test-of-one-s-allegiance_369954.jpg) > [Kafka's writings often display an insidious power to describe a wholly secular and "factical" world in which the eerie or "unheimlich" elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/kafka-s-writings-often-display-an-insidious-power-to-describe-a/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cb/kenny-smith-2406_aliens_kafka-s-writings-often-display-an-insidi_471832.png) > [“To je zabluda. Knjiga ne može da zameni svet. To je nemogućno. U životu sve ima svoj smisao i svoj zadatak koji…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-janouch/to-je-zabluda-knjiga-ne-mo-e-da-zameni-svet-to-je-nemogu-no-u-ivotu/) [Gustav Janouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-janouch/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d9/gustav-janouch-80357_book_to-je-zabluda-knjiga-ne-mo-e-da-zameni-s_1642841.jpg) > [“INTERVIEWER Why don’t you write tragedy? BARTHELME I’m fated to deal in mixtures, slumgullions, which preclude tragedy, which require a pure line.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-barthelme/interviewer-why-don-t-you-write-tragedy-barthelme-i-m-fated-to-deal/) [Donald Barthelme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-barthelme/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/donald-barthelme-2980_kafka_interviewer-why-don-t-you-write-tragedy_54346.png) > [I usually have Kafka biography in my bathroom. It's a book I can open at random and feel interested in immediately. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/i-usually-have-kafka-biography-in-my-bathroom-it-s-a-book-i-can-open/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d3/tao-lin-3279_bathroom_i-usually-have-kafka-biography-in-my-bat_1476813.png) > [“I've only read one other book of his, Danube, from which, among his many impeccable sentences, one wrapped its octopus arms around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/i-ve-only-read-one-other-book-of-his-danube-from-which-among-his-many/) [Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/rabih-alameddine-7394_books_i-ve-only-read-one-other-book-of-his-dan_2281623.jpg) > [Kafka: cries of helplessness in twenty powerful volumes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/kafka-cries-of-helplessness-in-twenty-powerful-volumes/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/mason-cooley-92_helplessness_kafka-cries-of-helplessness-in-twenty-po_2674534.png) > [“To her data analysis was the ugly love child of science and Kafka,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/to-her-data-analysis-was-the-ugly-love-child-of-science-and-kafka/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29c/kim-stanley-robinson-2148_children_to-her-data-analysis-was-the-ugly-love-c_1005974.png) > [“Every single day, each time I see her face, see her, it's utterly precious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/every-single-day-each-time-i-see-her-face-see-her-it-s-utterly/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d4/haruki-murakami-21_every-single-day_every-single-day-each-time-i-see-her-fac_3051263.jpg) ## Top authors on Kafka - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-franz-kafka-35977.jpg) Franz Kafka 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kafka/franz-kafka/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-haruki-murakami-40784.jpg) Haruki Murakami 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kafka/haruki-murakami/) - [Reiner Stach 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kafka/reiner-stach/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kafka/#itemlist", "name": "Kafka Quotes", "numberOfItems": 40, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Kafka’s short story ‘Judgement’.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rabisankar Bal" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabisankar-bal/kafka-s-short-story-judgement/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": 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"https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/haruki-murakami-21_kafka_the-world-is-a-metaphor-kafka-tamura-116_116135.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The world is a metaphor, Kafka Tamura.” — Haruki Murakami", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Kafka was a realist”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Georg Lukacs" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-lukacs/kafka-was-a-realist/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4a/georg-lukacs-93695_quote_kafka-was-a-realist-1886409_1886409.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4a/georg-lukacs-93695_quote_kafka-was-a-realist-1886409_1886409.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4a/georg-lukacs-93695_quote_kafka-was-a-realist-1886409_1886409.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kafka was a realist” — Georg Lukacs", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If something's a little weird, it's Kafkaesque.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adrian Tomine" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tomine/if-something-s-a-little-weird-it-s-kafkaesque/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b7/adrian-tomine-11778_ifs_if-something-s-a-little-weird-it-s-kafka_1495148.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b7/adrian-tomine-11778_ifs_if-something-s-a-little-weird-it-s-kafka_1495148.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b7/adrian-tomine-11778_ifs_if-something-s-a-little-weird-it-s-kafka_1495148.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If something's a little weird, it's Kafkaesque.” — Adrian Tomine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If Franz Kafka were alive today he'd be writing about customer service.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Alter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-alter/if-franz-kafka-were-alive-today-he-d-be-writing-about-customer-service/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13b/jonathan-alter-27761_alive_if-franz-kafka-were-alive-today-he-d-be_1766588.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13b/jonathan-alter-27761_alive_if-franz-kafka-were-alive-today-he-d-be_1766588.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13b/jonathan-alter-27761_alive_if-franz-kafka-were-alive-today-he-d-be_1766588.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If Franz Kafka were alive today he'd be writing about customer service.” — Jonathan Alter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In Czechoslovakia, we consider Kafka a very funny man. A humorist.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milos Forman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/in-czechoslovakia-we-consider-kafka-a-very-funny-man-a-humorist/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6aa/milos-forman-11744_czechoslovakia_in-czechoslovakia-we-consider-kafka-a-ve_1125279.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6aa/milos-forman-11744_czechoslovakia_in-czechoslovakia-we-consider-kafka-a-ve_1125279.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6aa/milos-forman-11744_czechoslovakia_in-czechoslovakia-we-consider-kafka-a-ve_1125279.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In Czechoslovakia, we consider Kafka a very funny man. 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He just told me I was drowning.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Slouka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/kafka-didn-t-save-me-he-just-told-me-i-was-drowning/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/mark-slouka-21874_drowning_kafka-didn-t-save-me-he-just-told-me-i-w_2877810.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/mark-slouka-21874_drowning_kafka-didn-t-save-me-he-just-told-me-i-w_2877810.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/mark-slouka-21874_drowning_kafka-didn-t-save-me-he-just-told-me-i-w_2877810.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kafka didn't save me. 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He thought he was a comic writer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leslie Fiedler" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-fiedler/kafka-is-still-unrecognized-he-thought-he-was-a-comic-writer/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e5/leslie-fiedler-13246_comic_kafka-is-still-unrecognized-he-thought-h_1653960.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e5/leslie-fiedler-13246_comic_kafka-is-still-unrecognized-he-thought-h_1653960.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e5/leslie-fiedler-13246_comic_kafka-is-still-unrecognized-he-thought-h_1653960.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kafka is still unrecognized. 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Files just disappear.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeb Bush" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/if-you-have-to-deal-with-our-friends-at-ice-immigration-and-customs/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1db/jeb-bush-1082_customs_if-you-have-to-deal-with-our-friends-at_2709337.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1db/jeb-bush-1082_customs_if-you-have-to-deal-with-our-friends-at_2709337.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1db/jeb-bush-1082_customs_if-you-have-to-deal-with-our-friends-at_2709337.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you have to deal with our friends at ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, it's like a Kafka novel…” — Jeb Bush", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was warped early by Ray Bradbury and Edgar Allan Poe. 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To work becomes a Kafka nightmare - it's the last communist country!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerard Depardieu" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-depardieu/in-hollywood-you-still-have-wonderful-actors-but-it-s-so-hard-to-work/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/gerard-depardieu-17856_actor_in-hollywood-you-still-have-wonderful-ac_1279617.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/gerard-depardieu-17856_actor_in-hollywood-you-still-have-wonderful-ac_1279617.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/gerard-depardieu-17856_actor_in-hollywood-you-still-have-wonderful-ac_1279617.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In Hollywood, you still have wonderful actors, but it's so hard to work there. 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We don't necessarily have that reaction to them, but he certainly laughed his head off every time he read them out loud.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Atwood" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/kafka-thought-his-stories-were-hilarious-we-don-t-necessarily-have/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a8/margaret-atwood-40_kafka_kafka-thought-his-stories-were-hilarious_2886465.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a8/margaret-atwood-40_kafka_kafka-thought-his-stories-were-hilarious_2886465.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a8/margaret-atwood-40_kafka_kafka-thought-his-stories-were-hilarious_2886465.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kafka thought his stories were hilarious. 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I think he's a great aphorist, a great letter writer, a great diarist, a great short story writer, and a great novelist - I'd put novelist last.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Banville" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/i-ve-been-wrestling-with-kafka-since-i-was-an-adolescent-i-think-he-s/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/john-banville-2532_adolescent_i-ve-been-wrestling-with-kafka-since-i-w_2456868.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/john-banville-2532_adolescent_i-ve-been-wrestling-with-kafka-since-i-w_2456868.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/john-banville-2532_adolescent_i-ve-been-wrestling-with-kafka-since-i-w_2456868.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I've been wrestling with Kafka since I was an adolescent. I think he's a great aphorist, a great letter…” — John Banville", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 23, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nobody is going to help me. Al least no one has until now. So I have to make it on my own. I have to get stronger – like a stray crow. That’s why I gave myself the name Kafka. That’s what Kafka means in Czech you know – crow.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/nobody-is-going-to-help-me-al-least-no-one-has-until-now-so-i-have-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/haruki-murakami-21_crow_nobody-is-going-to-help-me-al-least-no-o_1507610.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/haruki-murakami-21_crow_nobody-is-going-to-help-me-al-least-no-o_1507610.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/haruki-murakami-21_crow_nobody-is-going-to-help-me-al-least-no-o_1507610.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nobody is going to help me. Al least no one has until now. So I have to make it on my own. I have to get…” — Haruki Murakami", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 24, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Notable American Women is a weird nougat of a book that suggests Coetzee, Kafka, Beckett, Barthelme, O'Brien, Orwell, Paley, Borges-and none of them exactly. Finally you just have to chew it for its own private juice.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Padgett Powell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/notable-american-women-is-a-weird-nougat-of-a-book-that-suggests/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/padgett-powell-14196_american-woman_notable-american-women-is-a-weird-nougat_2493159.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/padgett-powell-14196_american-woman_notable-american-women-is-a-weird-nougat_2493159.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/padgett-powell-14196_american-woman_notable-american-women-is-a-weird-nougat_2493159.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Notable American Women is a weird nougat of a book that suggests Coetzee, Kafka, Beckett, Barthelme…” — Padgett Powell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 25, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Kafka said, A book must be an axe for the frozen sea inside us, which sounds great, but what good is an axe against a frozen sea? Perhaps this is why he said, while dying, Destroy everything.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matt Rasmussen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-rasmussen/kafka-said-a-book-must-be-an-axe-for-the-frozen-sea-inside-us-which/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3c/matt-rasmussen-65087_books_kafka-said-a-book-must-be-an-axe-for-the_2115227.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3c/matt-rasmussen-65087_books_kafka-said-a-book-must-be-an-axe-for-the_2115227.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3c/matt-rasmussen-65087_books_kafka-said-a-book-must-be-an-axe-for-the_2115227.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kafka said, A book must be an axe for the frozen sea inside us, which sounds great, but what good is an axe…” — Matt Rasmussen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 26, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“All right then, I’ll be mad at you on this score, which incidentally is no great misfortune, as things balance out quite well if there’s a little anger for you lurking in one corner of my heart.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Franz Kafka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/all-right-then-i-ll-be-mad-at-you-on-this-score-which-incidentally-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/franz-kafka-214_anger_all-right-then-i-ll-be-mad-at-you-on-thi_3150682.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/franz-kafka-214_anger_all-right-then-i-ll-be-mad-at-you-on-thi_3150682.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/franz-kafka-214_anger_all-right-then-i-ll-be-mad-at-you-on-thi_3150682.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All right then, I’ll be mad at you on this score, which incidentally is no great misfortune, as things…” — Franz Kafka", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 27, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[Kafka] transformed the profoundly antipoetic material of a highly bureaucratized society into the great poetry of the novel; he transformed a very ordinary story of a man who cannot obtain a promised job . . . into myth, into epic, into a kind of beauty never before seen.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milan Kundera" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/kafka-transformed-the-profoundly-antipoetic-material-of-a-highly/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/milan-kundera-120_beauty_kafka-transformed-the-profoundly-antipoe_2458536.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/milan-kundera-120_beauty_kafka-transformed-the-profoundly-antipoe_2458536.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/milan-kundera-120_beauty_kafka-transformed-the-profoundly-antipoe_2458536.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[Kafka] transformed the profoundly antipoetic material of a highly bureaucratized society into the great…” — Milan Kundera", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 28, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not Kafka's fault that his wonderful writings have lately turned into a fad, and are read by people who have neither the ability nor the desire to absorb literature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Herman Hesse" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-hesse/it-is-not-kafka-s-fault-that-his-wonderful-writings-have-lately/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/herman-hesse-14882_books_it-is-not-kafka-s-fault-that-his-wonderf_3056476.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/herman-hesse-14882_books_it-is-not-kafka-s-fault-that-his-wonderf_3056476.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/herman-hesse-14882_books_it-is-not-kafka-s-fault-that-his-wonderf_3056476.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is not Kafka's fault that his wonderful writings have lately turned into a fad, and are read by people…” — Herman Hesse", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 29, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Self-control is something for which I do not strive. Self-control means wanting to be effective at some random point in the infinite radiations of my spiritual existence.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Franz Kafka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/self-control-is-something-for-which-i-do-not-strive-self-control/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/950/franz-kafka-214_discipline_self-control-is-something-for-which-i-do_684876.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/950/franz-kafka-214_discipline_self-control-is-something-for-which-i-do_684876.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/950/franz-kafka-214_discipline_self-control-is-something-for-which-i-do_684876.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Self-control is something for which I do not strive. Self-control means wanting to be effective at some…” — Franz Kafka", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 30, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When the little mouse, which was loved as none other was in the mouse-world, got into a trap one night and with a shrill scream forfeited its life for the sight of the bacon, all the mice in the district, in their holes were overcome by trembling and shaking; with eyes blinking uncontrollably they gazed at each other one by one, while their tails scraped the ground busily and senselessly. Then they came out, hesitantly, pushing one another, all drawn towards the scene of death. There it lay, the dear little mouse, its neck caught in the deadly iron, the little pink legs drawn up, and now stiff the feeble body that would so well have deserved a scrap of bacon. The parents stood beside it and eyed their child's remains.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Franz Kafka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/when-the-little-mouse-which-was-loved-as-none-other-was-in-the-mouse/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/franz-kafka-214_death_when-the-little-mouse-which-was-loved-as_982153.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/franz-kafka-214_death_when-the-little-mouse-which-was-loved-as_982153.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/franz-kafka-214_death_when-the-little-mouse-which-was-loved-as_982153.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When the little mouse, which was loved as none other was in the mouse-world, got into a trap one night and…” — Franz Kafka", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 31, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I knew Richard E. Grant, and I went to him and said \"Would you like to [play Kafka in the film]?\" and he said yeah, and then suddenly I had all these people who were happy to come along. We got a little bit of money from Scottish Screen to pay for it. I got so many favors because I knew people in the business. I was in a remarkably good position. I got so many favors from people. I got the Monty Python technical people.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Capaldi" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-capaldi/i-knew-richard-e-grant-and-i-went-to-him-and-said-would-you-like-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/850/peter-capaldi-2535_bits_i-knew-richard-e-grant-and-i-went-to-him_238430.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/850/peter-capaldi-2535_bits_i-knew-richard-e-grant-and-i-went-to-him_238430.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/850/peter-capaldi-2535_bits_i-knew-richard-e-grant-and-i-went-to-him_238430.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I knew Richard E. Grant, and I went to him and said \"Would you like to [play Kafka in the film]?\" and he…” — Peter Capaldi", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 32, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Very often the test of one's allegiance to a cause or to a people is precisely the willingness to stay the course when things are boring, to run the risk of repeating an old argument just one more time, or of going one more round with a hostile or (much worse) indifferent audience. I first became involved with the Czech opposition in 1968 when it was an intoxicating and celebrated cause. Then, during the depressing 1970s and 1980s I was a member of a routine committee that tried with limited success to help the reduced forces of Czech dissent to stay nourished (and published). The most pregnant moment of that commitment was one that I managed to miss at the time: I passed an afternoon with Zdenek Mlynar, exiled former secretary of the Czech Communist Party, who in the bleak early 1950s in Moscow had formed a friendship with a young Russian militant with an evident sense of irony named Mikhail Sergeyevitch Gorbachev. In 1988 I was arrested in Prague for attending a meeting of one of Vaclav Havel's 'Charter 77' committees. That outwardly exciting experience was interesting precisely because of its almost Zen-like tedium. I had gone to Prague determined to be the first visiting writer not to make use of the name Franz Kafka, but the numbing bureaucracy got the better of me. When I asked why I was being detained, I was told that I had no need to know the reason! Totalitarianism is itself a cliché (as well as a tundra of pulverizing boredom) and it forced the cliché upon me in turn. I did have to mention Kafka in my eventual story. The regime fell not very much later, as I had slightly foreseen in that same piece that it would. (I had happened to notice that the young Czechs arrested with us were not at all frightened by the police, as their older mentors had been and still were, and also that the police themselves were almost fatigued by their job. This was totalitarianism practically yawning itself to death.) A couple of years after that I was overcome to be invited to an official reception in Prague, to thank those who had been consistent friends through the stultifying years of what 'The Party' had so perfectly termed 'normalization.' As with my tiny moment with Nelson Mandela, a whole historic stretch of nothingness and depression, combined with the long and deep insult of having to be pushed around by boring and mediocre people, could be at least partially canceled and annealed by one flash of humor and charm and generosity.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christopher Hitchens" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/very-often-the-test-of-one-s-allegiance-to-a-cause-or-to-a-people-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/christopher-hitchens-117_1950s_very-often-the-test-of-one-s-allegiance_369954.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/christopher-hitchens-117_1950s_very-often-the-test-of-one-s-allegiance_369954.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/christopher-hitchens-117_1950s_very-often-the-test-of-one-s-allegiance_369954.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Very often the test of one's allegiance to a cause or to a people is precisely the willingness to stay the…” — Christopher Hitchens", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 33, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Kafka's writings often display an insidious power to describe a wholly secular and \"factical\" world in which the eerie or \"unheimlich\" elements gang up behind or beneath the ego's awareness and immerse it in a waking dream of something Other, an alien world-order similar to ancient irrationalist cultures (in transition from primitivism to civilized mythos-culture).", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kenny Smith" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/kafka-s-writings-often-display-an-insidious-power-to-describe-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cb/kenny-smith-2406_aliens_kafka-s-writings-often-display-an-insidi_471832.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cb/kenny-smith-2406_aliens_kafka-s-writings-often-display-an-insidi_471832.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cb/kenny-smith-2406_aliens_kafka-s-writings-often-display-an-insidi_471832.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kafka's writings often display an insidious power to describe a wholly secular and \"factical\" world in which…” — Kenny Smith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 34, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To je zabluda. Knjiga ne može da zameni svet. To je nemogućno. U životu sve ima svoj smisao i svoj zadatak koji ne mogu bez ostatka biti ispunjeni nečim drugim. Nije mogućno, na primer, proživeti nešto posredstvom nekog zamenika. Tako je i sa svetom i knjigom. Pokušavamo da život zatvorimo u knjige kao pticu pevačicu u kavez. Ali, u tome ne uspevamo. Naprotiv! Čovek od knjiških apstrakcija ne izgrađuje ništa drugo nego sistem u vidu kaveza za sebe.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gustav Janouch" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-janouch/to-je-zabluda-knjiga-ne-mo-e-da-zameni-svet-to-je-nemogu-no-u-ivotu/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d9/gustav-janouch-80357_book_to-je-zabluda-knjiga-ne-mo-e-da-zameni-s_1642841.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d9/gustav-janouch-80357_book_to-je-zabluda-knjiga-ne-mo-e-da-zameni-s_1642841.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d9/gustav-janouch-80357_book_to-je-zabluda-knjiga-ne-mo-e-da-zameni-s_1642841.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To je zabluda. Knjiga ne može da zameni svet. To je nemogućno. U životu sve ima svoj smisao i svoj zadatak…” — Gustav Janouch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 35, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“INTERVIEWER Why don’t you write tragedy? BARTHELME I’m fated to deal in mixtures, slumgullions, which preclude tragedy, which require a pure line. It’s a habit of mind, a perversity. Tom Hess used to tell a story, maybe from Lewis Carroll, I don’t remember, about an enraged mob storming the palace shouting “More taxes! Less bread!” As soon as I hear a proposition I immediately consider its opposite. A double-minded man—makes for mixtures. INTERVIEWER Apparently the Yiddish theater, to which Kafka was very addicted, includes as a typical bit of comedy two clowns, more or less identical, who appear even in sad scenes—the parting of two lovers, for instance—and behave comically as the audience is weeping. This shows up especially in The Castle. BARTHELME The assistants. INTERVIEWER And the audience doesn’t know what to do. BARTHELME The confusing signals, the impurity of the signal, gives you verisimilitude. As when you attend a funeral and notice, against your will, that it’s being poorly done. [...] I think of the line from the German writer Heimito von Doderer: “At first you break windows. Then you become a window yourself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donald Barthelme" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-barthelme/interviewer-why-don-t-you-write-tragedy-barthelme-i-m-fated-to-deal/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/donald-barthelme-2980_kafka_interviewer-why-don-t-you-write-tragedy_54346.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/donald-barthelme-2980_kafka_interviewer-why-don-t-you-write-tragedy_54346.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/donald-barthelme-2980_kafka_interviewer-why-don-t-you-write-tragedy_54346.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“INTERVIEWER Why don’t you write tragedy? BARTHELME I’m fated to deal in mixtures, slumgullions, which…” — Donald Barthelme", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 36, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I usually have Kafka biography in my bathroom. It's a book I can open at random and feel interested in immediately. It's really funny. With this book, since I'm opening it at random and immediately interested, I don't feel the need to read more than I want to read, in that there's not, like, a plot that leads me along. So I can stop whenever.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tao Lin" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/i-usually-have-kafka-biography-in-my-bathroom-it-s-a-book-i-can-open/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d3/tao-lin-3279_bathroom_i-usually-have-kafka-biography-in-my-bat_1476813.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d3/tao-lin-3279_bathroom_i-usually-have-kafka-biography-in-my-bat_1476813.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d3/tao-lin-3279_bathroom_i-usually-have-kafka-biography-in-my-bat_1476813.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I usually have Kafka biography in my bathroom. It's a book I can open at random and feel interested in…” — Tao Lin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 37, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I've only read one other book of his, Danube, from which, among his many impeccable sentences, one wrapped its octopus arms around my frenetically feeble mind for months. It goes like this: \" Kafka and Pessoa journey not to the end of a dark night, but of a night of a colourless mediocrity that is even more disturbing, and in which one becomes aware of being only a peg to hang life on, and that at the bottom of that life, thanks to this awareness, there may be sought some last-ditch residue of truth.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rabih Alameddine" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/i-ve-only-read-one-other-book-of-his-danube-from-which-among-his-many/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/rabih-alameddine-7394_books_i-ve-only-read-one-other-book-of-his-dan_2281623.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/rabih-alameddine-7394_books_i-ve-only-read-one-other-book-of-his-dan_2281623.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/rabih-alameddine-7394_books_i-ve-only-read-one-other-book-of-his-dan_2281623.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I've only read one other book of his, Danube, from which, among his many impeccable sentences, one wrapped…” — Rabih Alameddine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 38, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Kafka: cries of helplessness in twenty powerful volumes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mason Cooley" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/kafka-cries-of-helplessness-in-twenty-powerful-volumes/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/mason-cooley-92_helplessness_kafka-cries-of-helplessness-in-twenty-po_2674534.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/mason-cooley-92_helplessness_kafka-cries-of-helplessness-in-twenty-po_2674534.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/mason-cooley-92_helplessness_kafka-cries-of-helplessness-in-twenty-po_2674534.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kafka: cries of helplessness in twenty powerful volumes.” — Mason Cooley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 39, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To her data analysis was the ugly love child of science and Kafka,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kim Stanley Robinson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/to-her-data-analysis-was-the-ugly-love-child-of-science-and-kafka/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29c/kim-stanley-robinson-2148_children_to-her-data-analysis-was-the-ugly-love-c_1005974.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29c/kim-stanley-robinson-2148_children_to-her-data-analysis-was-the-ugly-love-c_1005974.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29c/kim-stanley-robinson-2148_children_to-her-data-analysis-was-the-ugly-love-c_1005974.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To her data analysis was the ugly love child of science and Kafka,” — Kim Stanley Robinson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 40, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Every single day, each time I see her face, see her, it's utterly precious.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/every-single-day-each-time-i-see-her-face-see-her-it-s-utterly/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d4/haruki-murakami-21_every-single-day_every-single-day-each-time-i-see-her-fac_3051263.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d4/haruki-murakami-21_every-single-day_every-single-day-each-time-i-see-her-fac_3051263.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d4/haruki-murakami-21_every-single-day_every-single-day-each-time-i-see-her-fac_3051263.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every single day, each time I see her face, see her, it's utterly precious.” — Haruki Murakami", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kafka/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kafka/", "name": "Kafka Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kafka/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/782/rabisankar-bal-37057_quote_kafka-s-short-story-judgement-1901180_1901180.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 175 Kafka quotes by 113 authors. 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