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

“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