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Comment by Dokusō-tekina aidea on September 24, 2024 at 12:08pm

50 most popular quotations by Karl Kraus

[Karl Kraus was an Austrian writer, journalist, and satirist, known for his sharp wit and criticism of the press, culture, and society. His aphorisms are still highly regarded for their insight and biting humor. Here are 50 of his most popular quotations.]

1. "The devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people meaner."

2. "Journalists write because they have nothing to say, and they have something to say because they write."

3. "Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country."

4. "There are women who can make a man feel that he is a man. That’s why they like women who make them feel they are boys."

5. "Morality is a burglar’s tool whose merit lies in never being left behind at the scene of the crime."

6. "A writer is someone who can make a riddle out of an answer."

7. "The closer the look one takes at a word, the greater distance from which it looks back."

8. "A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait."

9. "Psychoanalysis is that mental illness for which it regards itself as therapy."

10. "Education is what most receive, many pass on, and few possess."

11. "Squeeze human nature into the straitjacket of criminal justice and crime will appear."

12. "Progress, under whose feet the grass is growing, has always been the wrong road for the traveler."

13. "Children play soldiers. That makes sense. But why do soldiers play children?"

14. "A weak man has doubts before a decision; a strong man has them afterwards."

15. "I don’t like to meddle in my private affairs."

Comment by Dokusō-tekina aidea on September 24, 2024 at 12:36am

16. "He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors."

17. "The truth is always a labyrinth, requiring careful navigation, but its beauties are beyond compare."

18. "The world is a prison in which solitary confinement is preferable."

19. "Democracy means the opportunity to be everyone’s slave."

20. "Laws are like spider webs, which catch the little flies, but let the big ones pass."

21. "The world’s history is one long, gruesome charade in which the worst crimes are sanctioned in the name of progress."

22. "The war has brought out the courage of men and the cowardice of nations."

23. "The invention of printing press has made a bridge between the Tower of Babel and the World Trade Center."

24. "It is the paper that puts the lie in all the mouths."

25. "Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it."

26. "There is nothing so pitiable as a misunderstood and overestimated man."

27. "Morality is a burglar's tool whose merit lies in never being left behind at the scene of the crime."

28. "The price of freedom is eternal surveillance."

29. "Artists have a right to be modest and a duty to be vain."

30. "Language is the mother of thought, not its handmaiden."

31. "What we understand is nothing; we only ever understand ourselves."

32. "The catastrophe of the world is not that people do not know, but that they do not listen."

33. "Love between the sexes is a war. If not for love, the world would not exist."

34. "An aphorism never coincides with the truth: it is either a half-truth or one-and-a-half truths."

35. "People who believe in immortality are like soldiers who shoot at a flag."

36. "The streets of Vienna are paved with culture; the streets of other cities with asphalt."

37. "He who has something to say hides it between the lines."

38. "War is, at first, the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off."

39. "Artists have a right to be modest and a duty to be vain."

40. "The devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people meaner."

Comment by Dokusō-tekina aidea on September 23, 2024 at 6:34pm

(Con't From) 41. "The secret of the demagogue is to appear as dumb as his audience so that these people can believe themselves as clever as he."

42. "Children play soldiers. That makes sense. But why do soldiers play children?"

43. "The moral of journalism is that there is no such thing as a neutral observer."

44. "A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong."

45. "An illusion in existence is worth two realities in the imagination."

46. "How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalists and believe these lies when they see them in print."

47. "The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause."

48. "When you’ve written what you want to say, always take out the first and the last sentence."

49. "A weak man has doubts before a decision; a strong man has them afterwards."

50. "It is not just that those who learn to win the crowd, and those who are able to win over their colleagues, are winning each other."

(50 most popular quotations by Karl Kraus, Karl Kraus was an Austrian writer, journalist, and satirist, known for his sharp wit and criticism of the press, culture, and society. His aphorisms are still highly regarded for their insight and biting humor.
Kraus’s quotes often appeared first in his periodical, "Die Fackel," and were later compiled into books and collections posthumously by various editors and scholars. His writings remain influential in the realms of satire, journalism, and aphoristic literature.

Here are 50 of his most popular quotations.

These quotations reflect Kraus' deep skepticism of society, language, and the press, often articulated with sharp wit and dark humor. These quotes are extracted from a variety of his works, rather than a single book. He was prolific, writing aphorisms, essays, and satirical pieces across many different platforms. Some key sources include:

1. "Die Fackel" (The Torch) Kraus's own literary and political magazine, where many of his aphorisms, essays, and critiques were first published.

2. "Aphorismen" (Aphorisms) Kraus was known for his sharp and concise aphorisms, which were often compiled in various collections.

3. "Sprüche und Widersprüche" (Sayings and Contradictions) A well-known collection of his aphorisms.

4. "Pro Domo et Mundo" A book containing his essays and aphorisms.

5. "Literature and Lies" Another collection of his critiques and reflections on society and literature.

6. "The Last Days of Mankind" (Die letzten Tage der Menschheit) A dramatic work that contains many of Kraus’s most famous satirical and critical lines.

Comment by Dokusō-tekina aidea on April 30, 2021 at 11:53am

石黑一雄·不像有狗來過

“我已經照你的建議做了，把整個地方弄得很亂，看起來還是沒有說服力。根本就不像有狗來過，倒像是開藝術展覽還差不多。”

他沈默半晌，或許是在專心盯著他的行李。接著他說：“我能了解你的問題。那里畢竟是別人的家，你想必大受拘束。不然這樣，我來告訴你幾樣我衷心希望摧毀的東西。你有在聽嗎，雷？我要你毀掉這幾樣東西：那個愚蠢的、瓷做的公牛。在CD音響旁，那個該死的大衛·科瑞去拉哥斯（Lagos）帶回來的禮物。你可以先把那東西摔碎，當個起頭。說真的，我根本不在意你破壞什麽。乾脆把所有東西都毀了吧！”

“查理，我想你需要冷靜一下。”

“好、好。但是那間公寓堆滿垃圾，就像我們現在的婚姻一樣。堆積如山、看了就煩的垃圾。那張軟綿綿的紅沙發；你知道我在說什麽嗎，雷？”

“嗯，事實上，我剛剛才在上面打盹兒。”(石黑一雄《夜曲》 の《或雨或晴 Come Rain or Come Shine》)

延續閱讀 》埃及新王朝時期的情歌