Franz Kafka on Writing

“A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.”

More from Franz Kafka

“I need solitude for my writing; not 'like a hermit' — that wouldn't be enough — but like a dead man.”

“Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.”

“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us.”

“I wanted to escape the unrest, to shut out the voices around me and within me, so I write.”

“Writing is a deeper sleep than death. Just as one wouldn't pull a corpse from its grave, I can't be dragged from my desk at night.”

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