A child learns to discard his ideals, whereas a grown-up never wears out his short pants.
Karl Kraus

A fine world in which man reproaches woman with fulfilling his heart's desire!
Karl Kraus

A woman who cannot be ugly is not beautiful.
Karl Kraus

A writer is someone who can make a riddle out of an answer.
Karl Kraus

An idea's birth is legitimate if one has the feeling that one is catching oneself plagiarizing oneself.
Karl Kraus

Children play soldier. That makes sense. But why do soldiers play children?
Karl Kraus

Christian morality prefers remorse to precede lust, and then lust not to follow.
Karl Kraus

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

Culture is the tacit agreement to let the means of subsistence disappear behind the purpose of existence. Civilization is the subordination of the latter to the former.
Karl Kraus

Curses on the law! Most of my fellow citizens are the sorry consequences of uncommitted abortions.
Karl Kraus


Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work.
Karl Kraus

Democracy means the opportunity to be everyone's slave.
Karl Kraus

Do not learn more than you absolutely need to get through life.
Karl Kraus

Education is a crutch with which the foolish attack the wise to prove that they are not idiots.
Karl Kraus

Education is what most receive, many pass on, and few possess.
Karl Kraus

Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.
Karl Kraus

Feminine passion is to masculine as an epic is to an epigram.
Karl Kraus

He who does without the praise of the crowd will not deny himself an opportunity to be his own adherent.
Karl Kraus

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

I am already so popular that anyone who vilifies me becomes more popular than I am.
Karl Kraus