Franz Kafka

Austria
3 Jul 1883 // 3 Jun 1924
Writer

Love as Some Kind of Sorcery

Once again I have told you so little, and have asked no questions, and once again I must close. But not a single answer and, even more certainly, not a single question shall be lost. There exists some kind of sorcery by which two people, without seeing each other, without talking to each other, can at least discover the greater part about each other�s past, literally in a flash, without having to tell each other all and everything; but this, after all, is almost an instrument of black magic (without seeming to be) which, although never without reward, one would certainly never resort to with impunity. Therefore I won�t say it, unless you guess it first. It is terribly short, like all magic formulas. Farewell, and let me reinforce this greeting by lingering over your hand.

Franz Kafka, in 'Letters to Felice'
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Letters to Felice

Franz Kafka

 

On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays