The whole visible world is perhaps nothing more than than the rationalization of a man who wants to find peace for a moment. An attempt to falsify the actuality of knowledge, to regard knowledge as a goal still to be reached.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The world we see might be a constructed rationalization to help a person find temporary peace rather than true knowledge.
- In plain terms
- What we see may be a trick to find peace instead of truth.
- What can you take from it?
- Perception often serves comfort over objective truth.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is peace worth less than truth?
- How do you know what is real?
Another view
This view undermines the possibility of any reliable knowledge.
More from Franz Kafka
Why do we complain about the Fall? It is not on its account that we were expelled from Paradise, but on account of the Tree of Life, lest we might eat of it.
Permalink to quote #45 We are sinful not only because we have eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, but also because we have not yet eaten of the Tree of Life. The state in which we are is…
Permalink to quote #47 Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself; anyone who wants to recognize it has to be a lie.
Permalink to quote #44
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