a bad mood
‘I remember,’ Brod writes, ‘ a conversation with Kafka which began with present-day Europe and the decline of the human race. “We are nihilistic thoughts, suicidal thoughts that come into God’s head,” Kafka said. This reminded me at first of the Gnostic view of life: God as the evil demiurge, the world as his Fall. “Oh no,” said Kafka, “our world is only a bad mood of God, a bad day of his.” “Then there is hope outside this manifestation of the world that we know.” He smiled. “Oh, plenty of hope, an infinite amount of hope – but not for us.”
The quote above seems to be the accurate quote. But I like the rendition I found on Reddit:
“Kafka said to his friend Max “We are only suicidal thoughts in the mind of God. Our entire world is just a bad mood he’s having. We live in God’s bad day.” Max, not sure if his friend was joking, replied “Well then, there must be hope, outside this manifestation of the world we know.” Kafka smiled and agreed. “Yes, an abundance of hope, an infinity of hope…for God. But not for us.””