Some deny the existence of misery by pointing to the sun; he denies the existence of the sun by pointing to misery.
Franz KafkaRead
Hold fast to the diary from today on! Write regularly! Don't surrender! Even if no salvation should come, I want to be worthy of it every moment.
Interpretation
Embrace the act of writing and expressing oneself without losing hope, regardless of the outcome.
This quote by Franz Kafka emphasizes the importance of commitment to one's personal reflections and creative expression through writing. It encourages individuals to maintain their dedication to documenting their thoughts and feelings, asserting that the value lies not only in potential outcomes or salvation but in the consistent practice of self-expression and striving to be deserving of whatever might come.
In practice
During a motivational speech about the benefits of journaling.
Some deny the existence of misery by pointing to the sun; he denies the existence of the sun by pointing to misery.
One 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.
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.
Association with human beings lures one into self-observation.
A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.
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.
The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it.
At one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.
These words dropped into my childish mind as if you should accidentally drop a ring into a deep well. I did not think of them much at the time, but there came a day in my life when the ring was fished up out of the well, good as new.
Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Those rewards create almost as many problems as they solve. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it.
Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.
That was excellently observedβ, say I, when I read a passage in an author, where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, there I pronounce him to be mistaken.
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