Letter to My Father

by Franz Kafka

And it appeared to a child that life existed through your mercy, and continued as your unearned gift.

few months before the final university exam, my mind was fed with intellectual sawdust which had been chewed by a thousand mouths before;

A man doesn’t need to fly to the sun, he need only find a patch of clean earth, and crawl there, and let the sun shine on him.

‘She probably put on a skimpy blouse, something the Jewish girls in Prague know how to do, and naturally you decided to marry her. And straight away – in a week, tomorrow, today. I don’t under-stand you, haven’t you got any other idea except marrying whoever takes your fancy? You’re a grown man, you live in a city – if you’re scared I’ll come with you.’

When I decided to marry a woman it meant nothing to you.