Franz Kafka

All language is but a poor translation.

The right understanding of any matter and a misunderstanding of the same matter do not wholly exclude each other.

Most men are not wicked... They are sleep-walkers, not evil evildoers.

Milena, if a million loved you, I am one of them, and if one loved you, it was me, if no one loved you then know that I am dead.

Just think how many thoughts a blanket smothers while one lies alone in bed, and how many unhappy dreams it keeps warm.

I am free and that is why I am lost.

The sister played so beautifully. Her face was tilted to one side and she followed the notes with soulful and probing eyes. Gregor advanced a little, keeping his eyes low so that they might possibly meet hers. Was he a beast if music could move him so?

Love is a drama of contradictions.

Last night I dreamed about you. What happened in detail I can hardly remember, all I know is that we kept merging into one another. I was you, you were me. Finally you somehow caught fire.

There are times when my longing for you overwhelms me […] so often I can think of you only with teeth clenched.

All knowledge, the totality of all questions and answers, is contained in the dog.

But I’m not guilty,” said K. “there’s been a mistake. How is it even possible for someone to be guilty? We’re all human beings here, one like the other.” “That is true” said the priest “but that is how the guilty speak

Better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have.

People keep themselves at a tolerable height above an infernal abyss toward which they gravitate only by putting out all their strength and lovingly helping one another. They are tied together by ropes, and it's bad enough when the ropes around an individual loosen and he drops somewhat lower than the others into empty space; ghastly when the ropes break and he falls. That's why we should cling to the others.

Test yourself on mankind. It is something that makes the doubter doubt, the believer believe.