The esthete stands in the same relation to beauty as the pornographer stands to love, and the politician stands to life.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Kraus compares aesthetes to pornographers and politicians to show how each distorts their respective domains.
- In plain terms
- People who study beauty, love, or life often twist them for their own purposes.
- What can you take from it?
- Experts often distort the subjects they claim to study.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do experts distort their fields?
- What is the relationship between love and politics?
Another view
The comparisons are harsh and may oversimplify complex fields.
More from Karl Kraus
Sexuality poorly repressed unsettles some families; well repressed, it unsettles the whole world.
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