Satires which the censor can understand are justly forbidden.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Satire that censorship can easily understand is banned because it is too safe or clear.
- In plain terms
- If a censor can understand a satire, it is too weak and gets banned.
- What can you take from it?
- True satire is often too subtle or dangerous for censors to grasp.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What satire is being hidden from you?
- Who decides what can be said?
Another view
It assumes censors lack intelligence to understand complex satire.
More from Karl Kraus
Psychoanalysis: a rabbit that was swallowed by a boa constrictor that just wanted to see what it was like in there.
Permalink to quote #37 Sentimental irony is a dog that bays at the moon while pissing on graves.
Permalink to quote #39 Psychoanalysis is that mental illness for which it regards itself as therapy.
Permalink to quote #36
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