--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every one of us has a bad conscience…" description: "\"Every one of us has a bad conscience, which he tries to escape by going to sleep as quickly as possible.\" — Franz Kafka" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/franz-kafka-214_conscience_every-one-of-us-has-a-bad-conscience-whi_2295904.jpg" --- # Every one of us has a bad conscience, which he tries to… ![“Every one of us has a bad conscience, which he tries to escape by going to sleep as quickly as possible.” quote by Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/franz-kafka-214_conscience_every-one-of-us-has-a-bad-conscience-whi_2295904.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/franz-kafka-214_conscience_every-one-of-us-has-a-bad-conscience-whi_2295904.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/franz-kafka-214_conscience_every-one-of-us-has-a-bad-conscience-whi_2295904.jpg) > “Every one of us has a bad conscience, which he tries to escape by going to sleep as quickly as possible.” [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A guilty conscience drives a person to seek escape through sleep, avoiding confronting inner turmoil. **In simple terms:** Guilty conscience leads to avoidance via sleep. Key Takeaway Recognize and address guilt instead of fleeing. Themes guilt avoidance psychology Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - nighttime insomnia - stress coping - self-reflection - mental health therapy Key Concepts conscience self-deception Questions to Reflect On - What does your guilt hide? - How can you face it awake? A Different Perspective Sleep only postpones dealing with underlying issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-conscience-1037115/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Conscience Tries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience-tries-1992996/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Going Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-sleep/) [Going to sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-to-sleep/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Sleep Quickly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep-quickly-4263921/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [If you can't go to sleep quickly, I suggest reading a school textbook in bed. 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Somewhere out there, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/now-for-a-good-twelve-hour-sleep-i-told-myself-twelve-solid-hours-let/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [He said he didn't very well understand how George was going to sleep any more than he did now, seeing that there were only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/he-said-he-didn-t-very-well-understand-how-george-was-going-to-sleep/) [Gilbert K. 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When I was a kid, my father was always trying to tell me how to be a man, and he said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/it-s-absolutely-fantastic-when-i-was-a-kid-my-father-was-always/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [I like working late at night and then going into the house and sitting down and watching a movie and then going to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/i-like-working-late-at-night-and-then-going-into-the-house-and/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [I'm trying to feel terrified and alone. And regret every decision I've ever made, drenched in a cold sweat. It's called going to sleep.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arj-barker/i-m-trying-to-feel-terrified-and-alone-and-regret-every-decision-i-ve/) [Arj Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arj-barker/) > [You don't protect any of your individual liberties by lying down and going to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-t-scopes/you-don-t-protect-any-of-your-individual-liberties-by-lying-down-and/) [John T. Scopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-scopes/) ## 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. 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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. 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So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/my-conscience-is-really-active-so-i-feel-bad-about-spending-excess/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) > [Let us be thankful for health and competence, and, above all, for a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/let-us-be-thankful-for-health-and-competence-and-above-all-for-a/) [Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/) > [Making money doesn't oblige people to forfeit their honor or their conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-rothschild/making-money-doesn-t-oblige-people-to-forfeit-their-honor-or-their/) [Guy de Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-rothschild/) > [“If we cannot be happy and powerful and prey on others, we invent conscience and prey on ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/if-we-cannot-be-happy-and-powerful-and-prey-on-others-we-invent/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [My morals are important to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-parrish/my-morals-are-important-to-me/) [Hunter Parrish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-parrish/) > [Being tolerant does not mean that I share another ones belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another ones right to believe, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-frankl/being-tolerant-does-not-mean-that-i-share-another-ones-belief-but-it/) [Viktor Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-frankl/) > [Never can true courage dwell with them, Who, playing tricks with conscience, dare not look At their own vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/never-can-true-courage-dwell-with-them-who-playing-tricks-with/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [I've worked with people who are much further to the left than I am and much further to the right than I am. 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