Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work.
Karl KrausRead
A writer is someone who can make a riddle out of an answer.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A writer transforms simple truths into complex ideas through their creativity.
This quote by Karl Kraus suggests that a writer possesses the unique ability to take straightforward answers and imbue them with layers of meaning, crafting riddles that provoke thought and invite interpretation. This reflects the artistic nature of writing, where conveying a message can often involve turning the simple into the intricate, encouraging readers to look beyond the surface.
Themes
WriterRiddleCreativityArtMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a writing workshop to inspire participants about the creative process.
More from Karl Kraus
All quotes βThe mission of the press is to spread culture while destroying the attention span.
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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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Stupidity is an elemental force for which no earthquake is a match.
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Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.
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Sexuality poorly repressed unsettles some families; well repressed, it unsettles the whole world.
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You know what I do? I listen to other people, stumbling about with their half thoughts and half sentences and their clumsy feelings that they can't express, and it hurts me. So I go home and burnish it and polish it and weld it to a rhythmic frame, make the dull colors gleam, mute the garish artificiality to pastels, so it doesn't hurt any more: that's my poem. I know what they want to say, and I say it for them.
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Sometimes you stumble across a few chords that put you in a reflective place.
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A work of art is never finished. It is merely abandoned.
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I knew from the age of five what I wanted to do. The one thing I could do was draw. I couldn't draw that much better than some of the other kids, but I cared more and I wanted it badly.
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We need to bring music to the people, even to those who normally do not listen to classical music.
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