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 but literature and can and want to be nothing else, my job will never take possession of me, it may, however, shatter me completely, and this is by no means a remote possibility.

Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted.

Guilt is never to be doubted.

The history of mankind is the instant between two strides taken by a traveler.

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.

Shoulder to shoulder, a coordinated movement of the people, their blood no longer confined in the limited circulation of the body but rolling sweetly and yet still returning through the infinite extent of China.

Evil does not exist; once you have crossed the threshold, all is good. Once in another world, you must hold your tongue.