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.
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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
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Rules of living Don't worry, eat three square meals a day,say your prayers, be courteous to your creditors, keep your digestion good,steer clear of biliousness,exercise, go slow and go easy. May be there are other things that your special case requires to make you happy, but my friend, these, i reckon, will give you a good life.
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Any wizard bright enough to survive for five minutes was also bright enough to realize that if there was any power in demonology, then it lay with the demons. Using it for your own purposes would be like trying to beat mice to death with a rattlesnake.
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Think before you speak is criticism's motto; speak before you think, creation's.
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When you reach my age, you realize you couldn't have done things very much better or much worse than you did them in the first place.
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We are all failures - at least the best of us are.
James M. BarrieRead
The harder you work, the more confidence you get. But you may be working hard on something that is false.
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