One thing that I did not elaborate too much on in the earlier “On This Day in History” blog entry was about Franz Kafka.
On this day, July 3rd, one hundred and thirty years ago, Franz Kafka was born in Prague. Back then, Prague was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which would be dismantled following defeat in the so-called Great War.
As it turns out, he was a pretty good writer. Although not very well known during his own lifetime, Kafka wrote some very important and highly influential works, dealing much with feelings of alienation, of brutality, and quite a bit with the bureaucratic aspect of life.
These are themes that obviously resonated in the twentieth century world, which saw no shortage of any of those things.
He may not have lived to see his works praised and admired, but today, I honor his life and his works, which have achieved a certain degree of immortality, as all great works of art do.
So, I thought it appropriate to share just a few quotes from him that really resonated with me. Not too many, or anything. Just some that really stuck (with me):
“Anyone who keeps and develops the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
“What we need are books that hit us like a most painful misfortune, like the death of someone we loved more than we love ourselves, that make us feel as though we had been banished to the woods, far from any human presence, like a suicide. A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.”
"A belief is like a guillotine, just as heavy, just as light."
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