Some deny the existence of misery by pointing to the sun; he denies the existence of the sun by pointing to misery.
Franz KafkaRead
There has never been a time in which I have been convinced from within myself that I am alive. You see, I have only such a fugitive awareness of things around me that I always feel they were once real and are now fleeting away. I have a constant longing, my dear sir, to catch a glimpse of things as they may have been before they show themselves to me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a deep sense of existential uncertainty and the fleeting nature of perception.
In this quote, Kafka expresses a profound dissatisfaction with his own awareness of existence, suggesting that he feels disconnected from the reality around him. He describes a continuous yearning to grasp the essence of experiences and events just as they occur, but instead finds himself only capturing echoes of what has passed, emphasizing the transient nature of life and perception.
Themes
ExistentialismPerceptionAwarenessFleetingLonging
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophy class discussing the nature of reality.
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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.
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