Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work.
Karl KrausRead
The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so they believe they are clever as he.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Demagogues manipulate their audience by dumbing themselves down, creating a false sense of intelligence among the listeners.
In this quote, Karl Kraus suggests that demagogues have a strategy of appealing to the lowest common denominator of their audience's intellect. By simplifying their message and behaving in a way that resonates with the audience’s misconceptions, these leaders foster a belief that their followers are brighter than they actually are. This tactic not only secures loyalty but also enables the demagogue to gain power by exploiting the audience's own biases and ignorance.
Themes
DemagogueManipulationIgnoranceIntellectAudience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a political discussion to highlight the tactics of certain leaders.
More from Karl Kraus
All quotes →The mission of the press is to spread culture while destroying the attention span.
Karl KrausRead
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 KrausRead
Stupidity is an elemental force for which no earthquake is a match.
Karl KrausRead
Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.
Karl KrausRead
Sexuality poorly repressed unsettles some families; well repressed, it unsettles the whole world.
Karl KrausRead
Similar quotes
Kindness’ covers all of my political beliefs.
Roger EbertRead
When a poor person dies of hunger it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.
Mother TeresaRead
Angels are intelligent reflections of light, that original light which has no beginning. They can illuminate. They do not need tongues or ears, for they can communicate without speech, in thought.
John Of DamascusRead
The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His.
Francis ChanRead
...life is a gift bestowed without anyone asking for it; that the thinking person has a philosophical duty to examine both the nature of life and the conditions it comes with; and that if this person decides to renounce the gift no one asks for, it is the moral and human duty to act on the consequences of that decision.
Julian BarnesRead
You lack a foot to travel? Then journey into yourself - that leads to transformation of dust into pure gold.
RumiRead