The whole visible world is perhaps nothing other than a motivation of man's wish to rest for a moment - an attempt to falsify the fact of knowledge, to try to turn the knowledge into the goal.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The visible world is a distraction to help humans avoid true knowledge.
- In plain terms
- The world is just a distraction so we do not have to face knowledge.
- What can you take from it?
- Physical reality may serve to hide deeper truths from us.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is the physical world a distraction from what is real?
- What knowledge are you avoiding?
Another view
The physical world has utility beyond just distraction.
More from Franz Kafka
Evil is a radiation of the human consciousness in certain transitional positions. It is not actually the sensual world that is a mere appearance; what is so is…
Permalink to quote #48 A belief is like a guillotine, just as heavy, just as light.
Permalink to quote #50 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
Related quotes
Ex umbris et imaginibus in vertitatem!
John Henry Cardinal NewmanJohn Henry Cardinal Newman quote #9 The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious. The refusal to see ourselves as we are develops a distaste for facts a…
Eric HofferEric Hoffer quote #22 Like Dead Sea fruits, that tempt the eye, But turn to ashes on the lips.
Thomas MooreThomas Moore quote #26