Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Zippy and Kafka


[Zippy, February 21, 2018.]

And:

You can withdraw from the sufferings of the world — that possibility is open to you and accords with your nature — but perhaps that withdrawal is the only suffering you might be able to avoid.

Franz Kafka, Aphorisms, trans. Willa and Edwin Muir (New York: Schocken, 2015).
Venn reading
All OCA Kafka posts : Kafka and Zippy posts : Zippy posts

[You can read Zippy daily at Comics Kingdom.]

comments: 4

Chris said...

I like this version (without having any idea if it is any more or less accurate): "You can hold yourself back from the sufferings of the world, that is something you are free to do and it accords with your nature, but perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could avoid."

Michael Leddy said...

Very similar to this version in The Blue Octavo Notebooks, translated by Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins (1991): “You can hold yourself back from the sufferings of the world: this is something you are free to do and is in accord with your nature, but perhaps precisely this holding back is the only suffering that you might be able to avoid.”

Fresca said...

Did you watch The Wire?
That's quoted (by the character Bubbles(Andre Royo)) at almost the end of the series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3eXLKx2iSM

Michael Leddy said...

Holy smokes! I watched all of The Wire but didn’t remember this bit. Thanks, Fresca.

I meant to reply hours ago. I think I must have pressed the wrong button on my phone.