It should be particularly stressed that the fantastic makes no sense in an out-and-out strange world. To imagine the fantastic in it is even impossible. In a world full of marvels the extraordinary loses its power.

Roger Caillois
About This Quote

This quote by Franz Kafka is an excellent warning about the dangers of the fantastic. The world that Kafka describes is filled with unusual occurrences. We see things that are impossible, but we actually accept them because they remain within our imagination. When our world becomes so strange, however, we lose the ability to imagine it. Kafka’s idea was that even though our world contains all kinds of impossible occurrences, we should not lose faith in the extraordinary.

Source: Au Coeur Du Fantastique

Some Similar Quotes
  1. Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend More than cool reason ever comprehends. The lunatic, the lover and the poet Are of imagination all compact: One sees more devils than vast hell can hold, That is, the madman: the lover,... - William Shakespeare
  2. Denna is a wild thing, " I explained. "Like a hind or a summer storm. If a storm blows down your house, or breaks a tree, you don't say the storm was mean. It was cruel. It acted according to its nature and something unfortunately... - Patrick Rothfuss
  3. Do you think we can be friends?” I asked. He stared up at the ceiling. “Probably not, but we can pretend. - Priya Ardis
  4. Vane grabbed me. “DuLac, let’s chat.” British-speak for “Stand still while I yell at you. - Priya Ardis
  5. Who are you? Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies? Have you created a life for yourself where you can experience them? I have. I am fucking crazy. But I am free. - Lana Del Rey
More Quotes By Roger Caillois
  1. Dreams are deformed reflections of ourselves - less stable and more ungraspable than we are, upon which we in our turn assume the right to reflect upon and to determine.
  2. The fantastic is always a break in the acknowledged order, an irruption of the inadmissible within the changeless everyday legality
  3. It should be particularly stressed that the fantastic makes no sense in an out-and-out strange world. To imagine the fantastic in it is even impossible. In a world full of marvels the extraordinary loses its power.
Related Topics