The Zürau Aphorisms

About “The Zürau Aphorisms”

The Zürau Aphorisms are 109 short reflections written by Franz Kafka between September 1917 and April 1918. He composed them while staying in Zürau, West Bohemia, with his sister Ottla, where he was seeking treatment for tuberculosis. The aphorisms were published in 1931 by his friend Max Brod, who titled the collection Betrachtungen über Sünde, Hoffnung, Leid und den wahren Weg ("Reflections on Sin, Hope, Suffering, and the True Way"). The work was included in the larger collection The Great Wall of China, also published in 1931. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)