---
title: "2 Tower Babel Quotes By Franz Kafka"
description: "2 Tower Babel quotes by Franz Kafka. Plus more from Franz Kafka and more Tower Babel sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f4/franz-kafka-214_climbing_if-it-had-been-possible-to-build-the-tow_178781.jpg"
---

> [If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without climbing it, it would have been permitted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/if-it-had-been-possible-to-build-the-tower-of-babel-without-climbing/)

[Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f4/franz-kafka-214_climbing_if-it-had-been-possible-to-build-the-tow_178781.jpg)

> [“...That, however, was not what our scholar was concerned to prove; for he maintained that the Great Wall alone would provide for the first time in the history of mankind a secure foundation for a new Tower of Babel. First…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/that-however-was-not-what-our-scholar-was-concerned-to-prove-for-he/)

[Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da7/franz-kafka-214_books_that-however-was-not-what-our-scholar-wa_1814068.jpg)

## 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/tower-babel/franz-kafka/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Tower Babel Quotes By Franz Kafka",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without climbing it, it would have been permitted.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Franz Kafka"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/if-it-had-been-possible-to-build-the-tower-of-babel-without-climbing/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f4/franz-kafka-214_climbing_if-it-had-been-possible-to-build-the-tow_178781.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f4/franz-kafka-214_climbing_if-it-had-been-possible-to-build-the-tow_178781.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f4/franz-kafka-214_climbing_if-it-had-been-possible-to-build-the-tow_178781.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without climbing it, it would have been permitted.” — Franz Kafka",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“...That, however, was not what our scholar was concerned to prove; for he maintained that the Great Wall alone would provide for the first time in the history of mankind a secure foundation for a new Tower of Babel. First the wall, therefore, and then the tower. His book was in everybody's hands at that time, but I admit that even today I cannot quite make out how he conceived this tower. How could the wall, which did not form even a circle, but only a sort of quarter- or half-circle, provide the foundation for a tower? That could obviously be meant only in a spiritual sense. But in that case why build the actual wall, which after all was something concrete, the result of the lifelong labor of multitudes of people? And why were there in the book plans, somewhat nebulous plans, it must be admitted, of the tower, and proposals worked out in detail for mobilizing the people's energies for the stupendous new work? There were many wild ideas in people's heads at that time -- this scholar's book is only one example -- perhaps simply because so many were trying to join forces as far as they could for the achievement of a single aim. Human nature, essentially changeable, unstable as the dust, can endure no restraint; if it binds itself it soon begins to tear madly at its bonds, until it rends everything asunder, the wall, the bonds, and its very self.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Franz Kafka"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/that-however-was-not-what-our-scholar-was-concerned-to-prove-for-he/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da7/franz-kafka-214_books_that-however-was-not-what-our-scholar-wa_1814068.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da7/franz-kafka-214_books_that-however-was-not-what-our-scholar-wa_1814068.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da7/franz-kafka-214_books_that-however-was-not-what-our-scholar-wa_1814068.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“...That, however, was not what our scholar was concerned to prove; for he maintained that the Great Wall…” — Franz Kafka",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tower-babel/franz-kafka/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tower-babel/franz-kafka/",
            "name": "Tower Babel Quotes by Franz Kafka",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tower-babel/franz-kafka/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f4/franz-kafka-214_climbing_if-it-had-been-possible-to-build-the-tow_178781.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Tower Babel quotes by Franz Kafka. Plus more from Franz Kafka and more Tower Babel sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tower-babel/franz-kafka/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tower-babel/franz-kafka/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Tower Babel",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tower-babel/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Franz Kafka",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tower-babel/franz-kafka/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```