Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work.
Karl KrausRead
An idea's birth is legitimate if one has the feeling that one is catching oneself plagiarizing oneself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A legitimate new idea can emerge from revisiting one's previous thoughts, suggesting self-inspiration can resemble self-plagiarism.
Karl Kraus suggests that the process of generating new ideas is often rooted in our previous thoughts. When we revisit our earlier concepts and draw new insights from them, it can feel like we are plagiarizing ourselves, yet this is a natural part of the creative process, highlighting how evolution in our thinking can lead to innovation.
Themes
IdeasCreativitySelf-PlagiarismInnovation
In practice
Example use cases
A writer discussing the evolution of their work might reference this quote to explain how revisiting old themes sparks new inspiration.
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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