Erika Higbee

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Erika’s Quotes

“I feel an unhappiness which almost dismembers me, and at the same time am convinced of its necessity”
― Franz Kafka, Diaries, 1910-1923

97 likes

“How many days have again gone silently by; today is 28 May. Have I not even the resolution to take this penholder, this piece of wood, in my hand every day? I really think I do not. I row, ride, swim, lie in the sun.”
― Franz Kafka, Diaries, 1910-1923

12 likes

“There am I. I cannot leave. I have nothing to complain about. I do not suffer excessively, for I do not suffer consistently, it does not pile up, at least I do not feel it for the time being, and the degree of my suffering is far less than the suffering that is perhaps my due.”
― Franz Kafka, Diaries, 1910-1923

33 likes

“This afternoon the pain occasioned by my loneliness came upon me so piercingly and intensely that I became aware that the strength which I gain through this writing thus spends itself, a strength which I certainly have not intended for this purpose.”
― Franz Kafka, Diaries, 1910-1923

21 likes

“In general I lacked principally the ability to provide even in the slightest detail for the real future. I thought only of things in the present and their present condition, not because of thoroughness or any special, strong interest, but rather, to the extent that weakness in thinking was not the cause, because of sorrow and fear – sorrow, because the present was so sad for me that I thought I could not leave it before it resolved itself into happiness; fear, because, like my fear of the slightest action in the present, I also considered myself, in view of my contemptible, childish appearance, unworthy of forming a serious, responsible opinion of the great, manly future which usually seemed so impossible to me that every short step forward appeared to me to be counterfeit and the next step unattainable.”
― Franz Kafka, Diaries, 1910-1923

tags: contemptible, counterfeit, fear, future, impossible, sorrow, unattainable, unworthy

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Erika’s Groups

Lost Generation — 222 members — last activity Jul 02, 2015 03:59PM
In the epigraph to Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Gertrude Stein is credited with coining the term 'lost generation' to describe the group of ...more

Literary Fiction by People of Color — 13640 members — last activity 10 hours, 6 min ago
This can include genre fiction that is literary (e.g. speculative fiction, historical fiction, etc.), as long as it's written by a person of color (Af ...more

Art Lovers — 2573 members — last activity 8 hours, 22 min ago
To reciprocate the appreciation of different artists and discuss their lives and works.

Poetry Readers Challenge — 640 members — last activity Jan 08, 2026 06:18AM
Let's talk about poetry books. This group's members read poetry collections, with the goal of reviewing twenty in a year. C'mon. Do it. It's good for ...more