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Writer's picture Brian E Pearson

Franz Kafka ("Parables & Paradoxes")


Franz Kafka, Bohemian writer (1883-1924)

MY DESTINATION


I gave orders for my horse to be brought round from the stables. The servant did not understand me. I myself went to the stable, saddled my horse and mounted. In the distance I heard a bugle call, I asked him what this meant. He knew nothing and had heard nothing. At the gate he stopped me, asking: “Where are you riding to, master?”


“I don’t know,” I said, “Only away from here, away from here. Always away from here, only by doing so can I reach my destination.”


“And so you know your destination?" he asked.


“Yes,” I answered, “didn’t I say so? Away-From-Here, that is my destination."


“You have no provisions with you,” he said.


“I need none,” I said, “The journey is so long that I must die of hunger if I don’t get anything on the way. No provisions can save me. For it is, fortunately, a truly immense journey.”




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kathiestevenson42
Jun 07, 2021

Are we not, all, on the same journey?

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 Brian E Pearson
Brian E Pearson
Jun 07, 2021
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Me too! Endlessly fascinating!

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