The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories Quotes

“His wounds, incidentally, must have healed up by now, he felt no handicap anymore, which was astonishing; for, as recalled, after he had nicked his finger with a knife over a month ago, the injury had still been hurting the day before yesterday. "Am I less sensitive now?" he wondered, greedily sucking at the cheese, which had promptly exerted a more emphatic attraction on him than any of the other food. His eyes watered with contentment as he gulped down the cheese, the vegetables, and the sauce in rapid succession. By contrast, he did not relish the fresh foods, he could not even stand their smells, and he actually dragged the things he wanted to eat a short distance away.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories: The Great Short Works of Franz Kafka

“Ako te to toliko mami, a ti pokušaj da odeš tamo. Ali upamti; ja sam moćan. A ja sam samo posljednji po činu.”
― Franz Kafka, Before the Law

“Would she notice that he had barely touched the milk, though by no means for lack of hunger, and would she bring in some other kind of food more to his taste? If she did not do so on her own, he would rather starve to death than point it out to her, even while he felt a tremendous urge to scoot out from under the settee, throw himself at her feet, and beg her for some good food.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories

“Gregor realized he must on no account allow the office manager to leave in this frame of mind; if he did, Gregor’s position at the office would be thoroughly compromised. The parents did not quite understand this. During these long years, they had become convinced that he was set up for life at this firm, and besides they were so preoccupied with their immediate problems as to have lost all sense of foresight. Gregor, however, did possess such foresight. The office manager had to be held back, calmed down, cajoled, and finally won over; Gregor’s future and that of his family hinged on it! If only the sister had been here! She was intelligent; she had already started to cry when Gregor was still lying calmly on his back. And the office manager, that ladies’ man, would certainly have let her take him in hand: she would have shut the apartment door, kept him in the vestibule, and talked him out of his terror. But the sister was not there, so Gregor had to act on his own.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories

“He truly wanted to open the door, truly show himself and speak to the office manager; he was eager to learn what the others, who were so keen on his presence now, would say upon seeing him. If they were shocked, then Gregor would bear no further responsibility and could hold his peace. But if they accepted everything calmly, then he likewise had no reason to get upset, and could, if he stepped on it, actually be in the station by eight.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories

“My original intention was to tell you all this in private, but since you are forcing me to waste my time here needlessly, I see no reason why your parents should not find out as well. Frankly, your recent work has been highly unsatisfactory. We do appreciate that this is not the season for doing a lot of business; still, there is no season whatsoever, there can be no season for doing no business at all, Mr. Samsa.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories

“Time is running out,” Karl said to himself, “but I can’t do anything without offending everyone. I can’t just desert my uncle now, right after he’s found me again. The captain is certainly polite, but that’s all. His politeness stops at discipline, and my uncle has probably expressed the captain’s innermost thoughts. I don’t want to talk to Schubal, I even regret shaking his hand. And the rest of the people here are worthless.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories

“Incidentally, this nephew had tried to be of service to the stoker several times and had long since repaid him more than amply for his help with the recognition; it did not even cross the stoker’s mind to ask anything of him now. Besides, while he might be the senator’s nephew, Karl was a long way from being the captain, and after all, the unpleasant verdict would be issuing from the captain’s lips.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories

“Such thinking pervades all modern politicizing of language, especially imperialism—not to mention onsite imperialism: by giving up their own language and assimilating to the surrounding languages, Jews became more acceptable to their host nations and to themselves, both socially and civically—and economically.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories

“No es cierto, puedes andar. Precisamente porque pareces estar muy débil, te pido que te vayas despacio; si te demoras, luego tendrás que correr.

¿Te avergüenzas de tus fracasos? También yo fracasé. Cuando estoy solo, aúllo apenado por ello. Ven conmigo, entre dos es mucho más llevadero.

Investigaciones de un perro”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories: The Great Short Works of Franz Kafka

“Con las preguntas sólo ardo yo mismo, quiero encenderme con el silencio que me rodea, que es la única respuesta.

Investigaciones de un perro”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories: The Great Short Works of Franz Kafka

“Was he really eager to let the warm room, comfortably furnished with pieces he had inherited, be turned into a cavern in which he would, of course, then be able to crawl about in all directions without disturbance, but at the same time with a quick and complete forgetting of his human past as well?”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories: The Great Short Works of Franz Kafka

“He realized that his appearance was still constantly intolerable and must remain intolerable in the future.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories: The Great Short Works of Franz Kafka

“And then if I have to cross a large open space I forget everything. The difficulty of this enterprise confuses me, and I can’t help thinking: ‘If people must build such large squares out of pure wantonness why don’t they add a stone balustrade to help one across. There’s a gale from the southwest today. The air in the square is swirling about. The tip of the Town Hall is teetering in small circles. All this agitation should be controlled. Every window pane is rattling and the lamp posts are bending like bamboos. The very robe of the Virgin Mary on her column is fluttering and the stormy wind is snatching at it. Is no one aware of this? The ladies and gentlemen who should be walking on the paving stones are driven along. When the wind slackens they come to a stop, exchange a few words and bow to each other, but when the wind blows again they can’t help themselves, all their feet leave the ground at the same moment. They have to hold on to their hats, of course, but their eyes twinkle merrily as if there were only a gentle breeze. No one’s afraid but me.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis & Other Stories