Sunday, August 14, 2011

'as many as a thousand shoulders'

Our life is very uneasy, every day brings surprises, apprehensions, hopes and terrors, so that it would be impossible for a single individual to bear it all did he not always have by day and night the support of his fellows; but even so it often becomes very difficult; frequently as many as a thousand shoulders are trembling under a burden that was really meant only for one pair.
Franz Kafka, "Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk" (1924) (trans. Willa & Edwin Muir 1948)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.