“It’s only because of their stupidity that they’re able to be so sure of themselves.”

The person I am in the company of my sisters has been entirely different from the person I am in the company of other people. Fearless, powerful, surprising, moved as I otherwise am only when I write.

I am in chains. Don’t touch my chains.

I am dirty, Milena, endlessly dirty, that is why I make such a fuss about cleanliness. None sing as purely as those in deepest hell; it is their singing we take for the singing of angels.

I need solitude for my writing; not ‘like a hermit’ – that wouldn’t be enough – but like a dead man.

There is an infinite amount of hope in the universe, but not for us.

The limited circle is pure.

All language is but a poor translation.

So eager are our people to obliterate the present.

I can love only what I can place so high above me that I cannot reach it.

It is not necessary to accept everything as true, one must only accept it as necessary.’ ‘A melancholy conclusion,’ said K. ‘It turns lying into a universal principle.

Evil is whatever distracts.

He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn’t yet lived.

Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.

What if I slept a little more and forgot about all this nonsense.

Written kisses don’t reach their destination, rather they are drunk on the way by the ghosts.

Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.

From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached.

Love exists in itself, not relying on owning or being owned.

Reality really is a theatre. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s all so nonsensical, ridiculous and chaotic.

All those who came out of my neighborhood before me. Beyond those you see on TV, the most important people are those who are close to you because they share the same reality.

Most people experience both tragedy and joy in varying proportions. Any philosophy which leaves out either cannot be considered to be comprehensive.

The human being is a most curious creature. He thinks he has got one soul, and he has got dozens.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

The meaning of life is that it stops.