--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When one is alone, imperfection must be…" description: "\"“When one is alone, imperfection must be endured every minute of the day; a couple, however, does not have to put up with it. Aren’t our eyes made to b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/franz-kafka-214_longing_when-one-is-alone-imperfection-must-be-e_2350841.jpg" --- # When one is alone, imperfection must be endured every… ![“When one is alone, imperfection must be endured every minute of the day; a couple, however, does not have to put up with it. Aren’t our eyes made to be torn out, and our hearts for the same purpose? At the same time it’s really not that bad; that’s an exaggeration and a lie, everything is…” quote by Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/franz-kafka-214_longing_when-one-is-alone-imperfection-must-be-e_2350841.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/franz-kafka-214_longing_when-one-is-alone-imperfection-must-be-e_2350841.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/franz-kafka-214_longing_when-one-is-alone-imperfection-must-be-e_2350841.jpg) > ““When one is alone, imperfection must be endured every minute of the day; a couple, however, does not have to put up with it. Aren’t our eyes made to be torn out, and our hearts for the same purpose? At the same time it’s really not that bad; that’s an exaggeration and a lie, everything is exaggeration, the only truth is longing. But even the truth of longing is not so much its own truth; it’s really an expression for everything else, which is a lie. This sounds crazy and distorted, but it’s true. Moreover, perhaps it isn’t love when I say you are what I love the most - you are the knife I turn inside myself, this is love. This, my dear, is love.”” [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. Love is portrayed as a painful, paradoxical longing that intertwines desire and self‑destruction. **In simple terms:** Love is painful longing. Key Takeaway Accept love’s contradictions. Themes love longing paradox self‑destruction truth Mood melancholic introspective Type novel excerpt philosophical When to use this quote - relationship turmoil - self‑reflection - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does longing reveal about you? - Can love be both harm and healing? A Different Perspective May idealize suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Every Minute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-minute/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Nature has planted in our minds an insatiable longing to see the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/nature-has-planted-in-our-minds-an-insatiable-longing-to-see-the-truth/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [My longing for truth was a single prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-stein/my-longing-for-truth-was-a-single-prayer/) [Edith Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-stein/) > [Truth is simple, but Illusion makes it infinitely intricate. The person is rare who possesses an insatiable longing for Truth; the rest allow Illusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meher-baba/truth-is-simple-but-illusion-makes-it-infinitely-intricate-the-person/) [Meher Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meher-baba/) > [For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/for-this-is-what-we-do-put-one-foot-forward-and-then-the-other-lift/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [“Is that man's fate: to spend his closest hours to truth longing for a lie?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/is-that-man-s-fate-to-spend-his-closest-hours-to-truth-longing-for-a/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Think. Act. Feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/think-act-feel-add-our-little-consequence-to-the-tides-of-good-and/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [“Sometimes we credit ourselves with a longing to be in some distant spot, whereas, in truth, we are only longing to have the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/sometimes-we-credit-ourselves-with-a-longing-to-be-in-some-distant/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Humor is the truth; wit is an exaggeration of the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-laurel/humor-is-the-truth-wit-is-an-exaggeration-of-the-truth/) [Stan Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-laurel/) > [“An exaggeration is a truth that has lost it's temper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/an-exaggeration-is-a-truth-that-has-lost-it-s-temper/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [Arrogance is an exaggeration of the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-heath/arrogance-is-an-exaggeration-of-the-truth/) [Phil Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-heath/) > [Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/exaggeration-is-truth-that-has-lost-its-temper/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every exaggeration of the truth once detected by others destroys our credibility and makes all that we do and say suspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/every-exaggeration-of-the-truth-once-detected-by-others-destroys-our/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > ["Entourage" is a staple LA-based show and people say it's pretty real and I thought it was. It's an exaggeration of the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauly-shore/entourage-is-a-staple-la-based-show-and-people-say-it-s-pretty-real/) [Pauly Shore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauly-shore/) > [It's my strength for holding on, every minute that I have to be gone. I'll have everything I'll ever need, I'm carrying your love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce/it-s-my-strength-for-holding-on-every-minute-that-i-have-to-be-gone-i/) [Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce/) > [Have you ever been in love? Isn't it awful? The constant insecurity of not being good enough. The worries of how others will think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie/have-you-ever-been-in-love-isn-t-it-awful-the-constant-insecurity-of/) [Leslie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie/) ## 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/) [Explore all 741 Franz Kafka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) ## More Longing quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“She pretended not to notice the look of longing in his eyes. It didn’t mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-brien/she-pretended-not-to-notice-the-look-of-longing-in-his-eyes-it-didn-t/) Kevin O'Brien > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“My only enemy is the miles of distance that's there between us, my favorite place is the road that leads me to you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/my-only-enemy-is-the-miles-of-distance-that-s-there-between-us-my/) [Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-the-kind-of-things-that-come-from-the-heart-when-you-do-you-won-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And how do you really feel? Like I'll never recover. Like I'll never draw another breath without half of it being a wish for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seville/and-how-do-you-really-feel-like-i-ll-never-recover-like-i-ll-never/) [Jane Seville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seville/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [The greatest tales, well told, awaken the fears and longings of the listeners. Each man hears a different story. Each is touched by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/the-greatest-tales-well-told-awaken-the-fears-and-longings-of-the/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) [Browse all 2,553 Longing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When one is alone, imperfection must be endured every minute of the day; a couple, however, does not have to put up with it. Aren’t our eyes made to be torn out, and our hearts for the same purpose? At the same time it’s really not that bad; that’s an exaggeration and a lie, everything is exaggeration, the only truth is longing. But even the truth of longing is not so much its own truth; it’s really an expression for everything else, which is a lie. This sounds crazy and distorted, but it’s true. 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