‘I remember,’ Brod writes, ‘ a conversation with Kafka which began with present-day Europe and the decline of the human race. “We are nihilistic thoughts, suicidal thoughts that come into God’s head,” Kafka said. This reminded me at first of the Gnostic view of life: God as the evil demiurge, the world as his Fall. “Oh no,” said Kafka, “our world is only a bad mood of God, a bad day of his.” “Then there is hope outside this manifestation of the world that we know.” He smiled. “Oh, plenty of hope, an infinite amount of hope – but not for us.”
- Walter Benjamin, Illuminations (1969)
- Walter Benjamin, Illuminations (1969)
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.
- Francis Bacon
- Francis Bacon
“There is in every madman
a misunderstood genius
whose idea
shining in his head
frightened people
and for whom delirium was the only solution
to the strangulation
that life had prepared for him.”
― Antonin Artaud
a misunderstood genius
whose idea
shining in his head
frightened people
and for whom delirium was the only solution
to the strangulation
that life had prepared for him.”
― Antonin Artaud
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
- Albert Camus
- Albert Camus
“It is not man but his revenge that is so subtle, rich, and inventive. He himself is hardly aware of it.”
—Daybreak, §228 (edited excerpt).
—Daybreak, §228 (edited excerpt).