Authors:

Karl Kraus Quotes

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.

Thomas Stephen Szasz, Karl Kraus (1990). “Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry”, p.153, Syracuse University Press

The devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people worse than they are.

"Die Fackel", no. 277/78 (March 31, 1909), translated in "Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry" by Thomas Szasz, (Ch. 8), 1970.

In case of doubt, decide in favor of what is correct.

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & one-and-a-half truths: selected aphorisms”

No ideas and the ability to express them - that's a journalist.

"Unspeakable but readable" by Ian Mayes, www.theguardian.com. August 27. 2004.

There are women who are not beautiful but only look that way.

"'Sprüche und Widersprüche' ('Dicta and Contradictions')". Book by Karl Kraus, translated by Richard Hanser, 1909.

Penalties serve to deter those who are not inclined to commit any crimes.

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & One-and-a-half Truths: Selected Aphorisms”

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

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & one-and-a-half truths: selected aphorisms”

Moral responsibility is what is lacking in a man when he demands it of a woman.

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & one-and-a-half truths: selected aphorisms”

To me all men are equal: there are jackasses everywhere, and I have the same contempt for them all.

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & One-and-a-half Truths: Selected Aphorisms”

What the teachers digest, the pupils eat.

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & one-and-a-half truths: selected aphorisms”

I and my public understand each other very well: it does not hear what I say, and I don't say what it wants to hear.

Karl Kraus, Jonathan McVity (2001). “Dicta and Contradicta”, p.118, University of Illinois Press

Religion, morality, and patriotism are feelings that are manifested only when they are outraged.

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & one-and-a-half truths: selected aphorisms”

The extraordinary ability of a woman to forget is not the same as the talent of a lady not to be able to remember.

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & one-and-a-half truths: selected aphorisms”

A woman occasionally is quite a serviceable substitute for masturbation.

Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & one-and-a-half truths: selected aphorisms”