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About this quote

What does it mean?
To destroy something actively, you must first understand and grasp it.
In plain terms
You must understand something fully before you can actively destroy it.
What can you take from it?
Understanding is a prerequisite for deliberate destruction.

Where it applies

  • conflict resolution
  • system engineering
  • artistic critique

Putting it to work

  • master concepts before changing them
  • analyze before acting

Questions to consider

  • What must you understand to change it?
  • Is it possible to destroy what you do not know?

Another view

Some things are destroyed by neglect without prior grasp.

More from Franz Kafka

  1. Two possibilities: making oneself infinitely small or being so. The second is perfection, that is to say, inactivity, the first is beginning, that is to say, a…

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  2. The first worship of idols was certainly fear of the things in the world, but, connected with this, fear of the necessity of the things, and, connected with th…

    Permalink to quote #53
  3. A belief is like a guillotine, just as heavy, just as light.

    Permalink to quote #50

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