“I have often been asked to be fair and view a matter from all sides. I did so, hoping that something might improve if I viewed all sides of it. But the result was the same. So I went back to viewing things only from one side, which saves me a lot of work and disappointment. For it is comforting to regard something as bad and to be able to use one’s prejudice as an excuse.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Prejudice
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“It is a mystery to me how a theologian can be praised for having brought himself to disbelieve dogmas. I’ve always thought that those who have brought themselves to believe in dogmas merit the true recognition owing a heroic deed.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Religion
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“I saw a poet chase a butterfly in a meadow. He put his net on a bench where a boy sat reading a book. It’s a misfortune that it is usually the other way round.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Literature
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“When I read, it is not acted literature; but what I write is written acting.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Literature
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“Today’s literature: prescriptions written by patients.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Literature
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“Intercourse with a woman is sometimes a satisfactory substitute for masturbation. But it takes a lot of imagination to make it work.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Sex
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“A man’s jealousy is a social institution; a woman’s prostitution is an instinct.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Sex
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“What are all the orgies of Bacchus when compared to the intoxication of someone who completely surrenders to continence!”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Sex
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“Christianity has enriched the erotic meal with the appetizer of curiosity and spoiled it with the dessert of remorse.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Sex
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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.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: War
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“The real end of the world is the destruction of the spirit; the other kind depends on the insignificant attempt to see whether after such a destruction the world can go on.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: War
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“No, there won’t be any scar left on the soul. The bullet will have gone in mankind’s one ear and out the other.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: War
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“War is 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.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: War
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“How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalists and believe these lies when they see them in print.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: War
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“Blushing, palpitations, a bad conscience–this is what you get if you haven’t sinned.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Conscience
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“There are people who can never forgive a beggar for their not having given him anything.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Conscience
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“Pangs of conscience are the sadistic stirrings of Christianity.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Conscience
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“The real truths are those that can be invented.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Truth
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“Who is going to cast out an error to which he has given birth and replace it with an adopted truth?”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Truth
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“A white lie is always pardonable. But he who tells the truth without compulsion merits no leniency.”
Karl Kraus
Submitted by Quonation |Category: Truth
