--- title: "10 Oneself Quotes By Franz Kafka" description: "10 Oneself quotes by Franz Kafka. Plus more from Franz Kafka and more Oneself sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/franz-kafka-214_absence_it-s-impossible-to-defend-oneself-in-the_1973981.jpg" --- > [It's impossible to defend oneself in the absence of goodwill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/it-s-impossible-to-defend-oneself-in-the-absence-of-goodwill/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/franz-kafka-214_absence_it-s-impossible-to-defend-oneself-in-the_1973981.jpg) > [Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/writing-is-utter-solitude-the-descent-into-the-cold-abyss-of-oneself/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9db/franz-kafka-214_abyss_writing-is-utter-solitude-the-descent-in_1658053.jpg) > [Writing means revealing oneself to excess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/writing-means-revealing-oneself-to-excess/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98b/franz-kafka-214_crafts_writing-means-revealing-oneself-to-exces_555162.jpg) > [Two possibilities: making oneself infinitely small or being so. The second is perfection, that is to say, inactivity, the first is beginning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/two-possibilities-making-oneself-infinitely-small-or-being-so-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/franz-kafka-214_action_two-possibilities-making-oneself-infinit_3203502.jpg) > [This inescapable duty to observe oneself: if someone else is observing me, naturally I have to observe myself too; if none observe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/this-inescapable-duty-to-observe-oneself-if-someone-else-is-observing/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/505/franz-kafka-214_duty_this-inescapable-duty-to-observe-oneself_2437008.jpg) > [From outside one will always triumphantly impress theories upon the world and then fall straight into the ditch one has dug, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/from-outside-one-will-always-triumphantly-impress-theories-upon-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b7/franz-kafka-214_fall_from-outside-one-will-always-triumphantl_954365.jpg) > [Believing means liberating the indestructible element in oneself, or, more accurately, liberating oneself, or, more accurately, being indestructible, or, more accurately, being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/believing-means-liberating-the-indestructible-element-in-oneself-or/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3a/franz-kafka-214_believe_believing-means-liberating-the-indestruc_3088844.jpg) > [The relationship to one's fellow man is the relationship of prayer, the relationship to oneself is the relationship of striving; it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-relationship-to-one-s-fellow-man-is-the-relationship-of-prayer/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94c/franz-kafka-214_draws_the-relationship-to-one-s-fellow-man-is_1278483.jpg) > [When one has once accepted and absorbed Evil, it no longer demands the unfitness of the means. The ulterior motives with which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/when-one-has-once-accepted-and-absorbed-evil-it-no-longer-demands-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/franz-kafka-214_accepted_when-one-has-once-accepted-and-absorbed_1793810.jpg) > [Everything is deception: seeking the minimum of illusion, keeping within the ordinary limitations, seeking the maximum. In the first case one cheats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/everything-is-deception-seeking-the-minimum-of-illusion-keeping/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/franz-kafka-214_aloof_everything-is-deception-seeking-the-mini_2611926.jpg) ## Other authors on Oneself ## More by Franz Kafka > [ “The tremendous world I have inside my head. But how \[to\] free myself and free it without being torn to pieces. And a thousand… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-tremendous-world-i-have-inside-my-head-but-how-to-free-myself-and/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [What I write is different from what I say, what I say is different from what I think, what I think is different from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/what-i-write-is-different-from-what-i-say-what-i-say-is-different/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“A fine setting for a fit of despair,” it occurred to him, “if I were only standing here by accident instead of design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-fine-setting-for-a-fit-of-despair-it-occurred-to-him-if-i-were-only/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“Ali svi se slažu u tome da se ne podižu lakomislene optužbe i da se sud, kad jedanput nekog optuži i kad je uvjeren…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/ali-svi-se-sla-u-u-tome-da-se-ne-podi-u-lakomislene-optu-be-i-da-se/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [My job is unbearable to me because it conflicts with my only desire and my only calling, which is literature. Since I am nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/my-job-is-unbearable-to-me-because-it-conflicts-with-my-only-desire/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Faith, like a guillotine. As heavy, as light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/faith-like-a-guillotine-as-heavy-as-light/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [You need not even listen, just wait...the world will offer itself freely to you, unmasking itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/you-need-not-even-listen-just-wait-the-world-will-offer-itself-freely/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“I will cross hundreds of seas and oceans without sinking to reach you, see your eyes and sink completely into their depths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/i-will-cross-hundreds-of-seas-and-oceans-without-sinking-to-reach-you/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [I have no memory for things I have learned, nor things I have read, nor things experienced or heard, neither for people nor events;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/i-have-no-memory-for-things-i-have-learned-nor-things-i-have-read-nor/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“This sounds crazy, but it is so. Nor is it perhaps really love when I say that for me you are the most beloved;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/this-sounds-crazy-but-it-is-so-nor-is-it-perhaps-really-love-when-i/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [The more horses you yoke the quicker everything will go - not the rending of the block from its foundation, which is impossible, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-more-horses-you-yoke-the-quicker-everything-will-go-not-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Martyrs do not underrate the body, they allow it to be elevated on the cross. In this they are at one with their antagonists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/martyrs-do-not-underrate-the-body-they-allow-it-to-be-elevated-on-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [The true way goes over a line that, rather than spanning heights, is hardly above the ground. It appears more decidedly to make one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-true-way-goes-over-a-line-that-rather-than-spanning-heights-is/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Every new discovery is assumed at once into the sum total of knowledge, and with that ceases in a sense to be a discovery;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/every-new-discovery-is-assumed-at-once-into-the-sum-total-of/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“Sou de pedra. Sou a minha própria pedra tumular, sem nenhum interstício para a dúvida ou para a fé, para o amor ou para…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/sou-de-pedra-sou-a-minha-pr-pria-pedra-tumular-sem-nenhum-interst-cio/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/franz-kafka/#itemlist", "name": "10 Oneself Quotes By Franz Kafka", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's impossible to defend oneself in the absence of goodwill", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Franz Kafka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/it-s-impossible-to-defend-oneself-in-the-absence-of-goodwill/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/franz-kafka-214_absence_it-s-impossible-to-defend-oneself-in-the_1973981.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/franz-kafka-214_absence_it-s-impossible-to-defend-oneself-in-the_1973981.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/franz-kafka-214_absence_it-s-impossible-to-defend-oneself-in-the_1973981.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's impossible to defend oneself in the absence of goodwill” — Franz Kafka", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Franz Kafka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/writing-is-utter-solitude-the-descent-into-the-cold-abyss-of-oneself/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9db/franz-kafka-214_abyss_writing-is-utter-solitude-the-descent-in_1658053.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9db/franz-kafka-214_abyss_writing-is-utter-solitude-the-descent-in_1658053.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9db/franz-kafka-214_abyss_writing-is-utter-solitude-the-descent-in_1658053.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.” — Franz Kafka", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing means revealing oneself to excess.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Franz Kafka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/writing-means-revealing-oneself-to-excess/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98b/franz-kafka-214_crafts_writing-means-revealing-oneself-to-exces_555162.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98b/franz-kafka-214_crafts_writing-means-revealing-oneself-to-exces_555162.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98b/franz-kafka-214_crafts_writing-means-revealing-oneself-to-exces_555162.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing means revealing oneself to excess.” — Franz Kafka", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Two possibilities: making oneself infinitely small or being so. 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The ulterior motives with which youabsorb and assimilate Evil are not your own but those of Evil… Evil is whatever distracts. Evil knows of the Good, but Good does not know of Evil. Knowledge of oneself is something only Evil has. One means that Evil has is the dialogue… One cannot pay Evil in installments--and one always keeps on trying to.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Franz Kafka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/when-one-has-once-accepted-and-absorbed-evil-it-no-longer-demands-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/franz-kafka-214_accepted_when-one-has-once-accepted-and-absorbed_1793810.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/franz-kafka-214_accepted_when-one-has-once-accepted-and-absorbed_1793810.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/franz-kafka-214_accepted_when-one-has-once-accepted-and-absorbed_1793810.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When one has once accepted and absorbed Evil, it no longer demands the unfitness of the means. 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In the second case one cheats the Good by keeping as aloof from it as possible, and the Evil by hoping to make it powerless through intensifying it to the utmost.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Franz Kafka" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/everything-is-deception-seeking-the-minimum-of-illusion-keeping/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/franz-kafka-214_aloof_everything-is-deception-seeking-the-mini_2611926.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/franz-kafka-214_aloof_everything-is-deception-seeking-the-mini_2611926.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/franz-kafka-214_aloof_everything-is-deception-seeking-the-mini_2611926.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everything is deception: seeking the minimum of illusion, keeping within the ordinary limitations, seeking…” — Franz Kafka", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/franz-kafka/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/franz-kafka/", "name": "Oneself Quotes by Franz Kafka", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/franz-kafka/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/franz-kafka-214_absence_it-s-impossible-to-defend-oneself-in-the_1973981.jpg" }, "description": "10 Oneself quotes by Franz Kafka. 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