Some deny the existence of misery by pointing to the sun; he denies the existence of the sun by pointing to misery.
Franz KafkaRead
Every one of us has a bad conscience, which he tries to escape by going to sleep as quickly as possible.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on human guilt and the desire to escape unpleasant feelings through sleep.
Franz Kafka's quote explores the concept of a 'bad conscience' that plagues individuals, suggesting that many people seek solace in sleep as a means of escaping their guilt or internal struggles. It highlights the psychological burden we carry and how we often turn to rest as a temporary refuge from our deeper issues.
Themes
GuiltConscienceSleepEscapeAnxiety
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mental health, you might use this quote to emphasize the importance of addressing internal struggles rather than avoiding them.
More from Franz Kafka
All quotes βOne can disintegrate the world by means of very strong light. For weak eyes the world becomes solid, for still weaker eyes it seems to develop fists, for eyes weaker still it becomes shamefaced and smashes anyone who dares to gaze upon it.
Franz KafkaRead
But Gregor understood easily that it was not only consideration for him which prevented their moving, for he could easily have been transported in a suitable crate with a few air holes; what mainly prevented the family from moving was their complete hopelessness and the thought that they had been struck by a misfortune as none of their relatives and acquaintances had ever been hit.
Franz KafkaRead
Association with human beings lures one into self-observation.
Franz KafkaRead
A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.
Franz KafkaRead
The ulterior motives with which you absorb and assimilate Evil are not your own but those of Evil. _x000D_ The animal wrests the whip from its master and whips itself in order to become master, not knowing that this is only a fantasy produced by a new knot in the master's whiplash.
Franz KafkaRead
Similar quotes
I think it's one of the scars in our culture that we have too high an opinion of ourselves. We align ourselves with the angels instead of the higher primates.
Angela CarterRead
Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of the human life.
Joseph CampbellRead
Spirituality is not a question of morality, it is a question of vision. Spirituality is not the practising of virtues - because if you practise a virtue it is no longer a virtue. A practised virtue is a dead thing, a dead weight. Virtue is virtue only when it is spontaneous; virtue is virtue only when it is natural, unpractised - when it comes out of your vision, out of your awareness, out of your understanding.
RajneeshRead
It was the voice of mad seas, roaring immense,/ That shattered your infant breast, too soft, too human.
Arthur RimbaudRead
There is no doubt that the world economy is in trouble. But if governments or individuals use this as an excuse to reduce assistance to the world's poorest people, they will only multiply the seriousness of the problem for the world as a whole.
Peter SingerRead
Every new opinion, at its starting, is precisely in a minority of one.
Thomas CarlyleRead