Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work.
Karl KrausRead
Stupidity is an elemental force for which no earthquake is a match.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Stupidity is a powerful and destructive force that can surpass natural disasters.
Karl Kraus suggests that stupidity, as a fundamental force of human nature, can cause more chaos and destruction than even the most catastrophic natural events. This highlights the idea that the consequences of foolishness and ignorance can be deeply impactful and sometimes more damaging than physical calamities.
Themes
StupidityForceDestructionChaosIgnorance
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on education reform, one might say: 'As Karl Kraus wisely pointed out, stupidity is an elemental force for which no earthquake is a match.'
More from Karl Kraus
All quotes βThe mission of the press is to spread culture while destroying the attention span.
Karl KrausRead
War: first, one hopes to win; then one expects the enemy to lose; then, one is satisfied that he too is suffering; in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost.
Karl KrausRead
Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.
Karl KrausRead
Sexuality poorly repressed unsettles some families; well repressed, it unsettles the whole world.
Karl KrausRead
My unconscious knows more about the consciousness of the psychologist than his consciousness knows about my unconscious.
Karl KrausRead
Similar quotes
In America the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience.
Oscar WildeRead
They made me see that the world was beautiful if you were beautiful, and that you couldn't get unless you gave. And you had to give without wanting to get.
T. H. WhiteRead
Because truth is exceedingly subtle and serene, the bliss of the Self can manifest only in a mind rendered subtle and steady by assiduous meditation.
Ramana MaharshiRead
I saved a man's life once," said Granny. "Special medicine, twice a day. Boiled water with a bit of berry juice in it. Told him I'd bought it from the dwarves. That's the biggest part of doct'rin, really. Most people'll get over most things if they put their minds to it, you just have to give them an interest.
Terry PratchettRead
By and large, talent is in such short supply that mediocrity can be taken for brilliance rather more than genius can go undiscovered.
Charles SaatchiRead
For want of a naile the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost.
George HerbertRead