Quotes from Amerika

Franz Kafka ·  336 pages

Rating: (18.4K votes)


“So then you’re free?’
‘Yes, I’m free,’ said Karl, and nothing seemed more worthless than his freedom.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“It's impossible to defend oneself in the absence of goodwill”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“He looked sadly down at the street, as though it were his own bottomless sadness.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“In the morning and in the evening and at night in his dreams, this street was filled with constantly bustling traffic, which seen from above seemed like a continually self-replenishing mixture of distorted human figures and of the roofs of all sorts of vehicles, constantly scattered by new arrivals, out of which there arose a new, stronger, wilder mixture of noise, dust, and smells, and, catching and penetrating it all, a powerful light that was continually dispersed, carried away, and avidly refracted by the mass of objects that made such a physical impression on one's dazzled eye that it seemed as if a glass pane, hanging over the street and converging everything, were being smashed again and again with the utmost force.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“After all, one does not laugh at senator's nephew at the first opportunity that presents itself.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika



“Karl, oh my Karl!' she cried, as if by gazing at him she were confirming her possession, while Karl saw absolutely nothing and felt uncomfortable in the warm bedding that she seemed to have piled up specially for his benefit.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“He had vented all his woes and now they might as well see the few rags that covered his body, after which they could carry him away.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“[...] jeder nützte seine Macht aus und beschimpfte den Niedrigen. War man einmal daran gewöhnt, klang es nicht anders als das regelmäßige Uhrenschlagen.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“Pero tales cosas por lo visto no se toman en consideración en el momento decisivo, en ninguno de los continentes, ni en Europa ni en América, sino antes bien se toman decisiones según el rapto de furia del primer momento y conforme a la primera sentencia que salga de la boca.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“Zavallı küçük bir göçmen olarak karaya ayak basmış olsaydı, nerede kalırdı acaba? Evet, belki de onu -göçmen yasaları konusundaki bilgisine dayanarak bunu çok olası buluyordu dayı- Birleşik Devletler'e almazlardı bile, artık bir yurdu olmadığını umursamadan eve yollarlardı. Çünkü burada kimse kimseye acımazdı, Karl'ın bu açıdan Amerika hakkında okumuş olduğu şeyler de çok doğruydu; yalnızca şanslı olanlar çevrelerindeki kaygısız yüzler arasında şanslarının gerçekten tadını çıkarıyor gibiydiler.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika



“Annesi korkunç bir akşam pencerenin önünde Amerika yolculuğunu haber verdiğinde, asla mektup yazmamaya geri dönülmez biçimde yemin etmişti etmesine, ama deneyimsiz bir gencin ettiği böyle bir yemin buradaki yeni koşullarda kaç yazardı! O zamanlar, Amerika'da iki ay kaldıktan sonra Amerikan ordusunda general olacağına da yemin etse olurdu; gerçekteyse New York dışında bir otelde; tavan arasında bir odada iki serseriyle beraberdi, ayrıca burada gerçekten yerini bulmuş olduğunu da itiraf etmeliydi.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


“„Dann sind Sie also frei?“ fragte sie. „Ja frei bin ich“, sagte Karl und nichts schien ihm wertloser.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Amerika


About the author

Franz Kafka
Born place: in Prague, Austria-Hungary
Born date July 3, 1883
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Sometimes you stand under the hot gush for so long, looking at your body, counting every bruise. Touching every tender place. Watching the swirl at your feet, the glitter spinning. Like a mermaid shedding her scales.
You’re really just trying to get your heart to slow “down.
You think, This is my body, and I can make it do things. I can make it spin, flip, fly.
After, you stand in front of the steaming mirror, the fuchsia streaks gone, the lashes unsparkled. And it’s just you there, and you look like no one you’ve ever seen before. You don’t look like anybody at all.”
― Megan Abbott, quote from Dare Me


“I'm not like him, Kara. Whoever he is, I'm not like him."
She ran a hand over his chest, with its mat of golden curls and teased one flat brown nipple, desire already running hot in her veins. "No. No you're not.”
― Pamela Clare, quote from Extreme Exposure


“Ad aver dato fastidio alle organizzazioni criminali è il mio lettore, non sono io. Il mio lettore è ciò che loro non vogliono, il fatto che in questo momento ne stiamo parlando, che ne hanno parlato tutti i giornali, che continuano ad uscire libri, che continuano a nascere documentari, è tutto questo che loro non vogliono, è l'attenzione su di loro, sui loro nomi, soprattutto sui loro affari.”
― Roberto Saviano, quote from Gomorrah


“I like walking into a room and seeing your face light up when you see me,” he said earnestly, the sun from the open window making his hair glow. “I like arguing with Quen over the wisdom of employing a demon to be my security.”
My throat caught. This wasn’t going to happen, but something in me was withering. I wanted more—­and I knew I couldn’t have it.
He touched my hair, and I twitched as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to wake up beside you, see your curls on my pillow. I want a chance at falling in love.”
― Kim Harrison, quote from The Undead Pool


“The way I see it,” Carter said, “I have to keep your secret because if I don’t call a truce with you, that someone who’s going to get killed someday
will probably be me.” I shrugged. He was right about that. But I smiled again and held out my hand. “Fine. Truce.”
“Truce,” Carter agreed, and shook my hand. “So how about a statement for my article?”
“Sure. ‘No comment.’ ”
― Kelly Oram, quote from Being Jamie Baker


Interesting books

Dark Age
(80)
Dark Age
by Felix O. Hartmann
Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story
(4.7K)
Hold Me Closer: The...
by David Levithan
Frost Like Night
(7.4K)
Frost Like Night
by Sara Raasch
Cruel Crown
(15.4K)
Cruel Crown
by Victoria Aveyard
Take the Key and Lock Her Up
(4.9K)
Take the Key and Loc...
by Ally Carter
Regarding the Pain of Others
(7.9K)
Regarding the Pain o...
by Susan Sontag

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.