Man cannot live without a permanent trust in something indestructible in himself, though both the indestructible element and the trust may remain permanently hidden from him. One of the ways in which this hiddenness can express itself is through faith in a personal god.
[Der Mensch kann nicht leben ohne ein dauerndes Vertrauen zu etwas Unzerstörbarem in sich, wobei sowohl das Unzerstörbare als auch das Vertrauen ihm dauernd verborgen bleiben können. Eine der Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten dieses Verborgen-Bleibens ist der Glaube an einen persönlichen Gott.]
Alt. trans.:
- “Man cannot live without an enduring faith in something indestructible within him.” [In Max Brod, introduction to Gustav Janouch, Conversations with Kafka (1953) [tr. Rees]]
- “Man cannot live long without a steady faith in something indestructible within him, though both faith and the indestructible thing may remain permanently concealed from him.”
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
Notebook, Aphorism # 50 [tr. Kaiser and Wilkins]
Alt. trans.:
- "Man cannot live without an enduring faith in something indestructible within him." [In Max Brod, introduction to Gustav Janouch, Conversations with Kafka (1953) [tr. Rees]]
- "Man cannot live long without a steady faith in something indestructible within him, though both faith and the indestructible thing may remain permanently concealed from him."
