“The relationship to one's fellow man is the relationship of prayer, the relationship to oneself is the relationship of striving; it is from prayer that one draws the strength for one's striving.”

Franz Kafka was a Czech-German writer of the early 20th century. His surreal, existential works—including *The Metamorphosis* and *The Trial*—explore alienation, bureaucracy, and the absurdity of modern life. The term "Kafkaesque" now describes oppressive, labyrinthine systems.