Ludwig Klages Quotes

“The great masses, who have never been, in the history of mankind, more subject to hypnotic suggestion than they are right now, have become the puppets of the 'public opinion' that is engineered by the newspapers in the service, it need hardly be emphasized, of the reigning powers of finance. What is printed in the morning editions of the big city newspapers is the opinion of nine out of ten readers by nightfall.”

“The United States of America, whose more rapid 'progress' enables us to predict the future on a daily basis, has pulled far ahead of the pack when it comes to standardizing thought, work, entertainment, etc... Thus, the United States in 1917 went to war against Germany in sincere indignation because the newspapers had told them that Prussian 'militarism' was rioting in devilish atrocities as it attempted to conquer the world. Of course, these transparent lies were published in the daily rags because the ruling lords of Mammon knew that American intervention in Europe would fatten their coffers.

Thus, whereas the Americans thought that they were fighting for such high-minded slogans as 'liberty' and 'justice', they were actually fighting to stuff the money bags of the big bankers. These 'free citizens' are, in fact, mere marionettes; their freedom is imaginary, and a brief glance at American work-methods and leisure-time entertainments is enough to prove conclusively that l’homme machine is not merely imminent: it is already the American reality.”

“Wherever there is a living body, there is also a soul; wherever there is a soul, there is also a living body. The soul is the meaning of the body, the image of the body is the appearance of the soul. Whatever appears has a purpose; and every sense reveals itself as it appears.”

“A man who cannot climb a tree will boast of never having fallen out of one.”

“Beauty is but the cloak of happiness. Where joy tarries, there also is beauty.”

“Christianity is the war against sleep and dream.”

“Everything purposeful is meaningless, and everything meaningful is purposeless.”

“Many first possess wealth, and are then possessed by it.”

“Make no mistake: 'progress' is the lust for power and nothing besides, and we must unmask its method as a sick, destructive joke. Utilizing such pretexts as 'necessity', 'economic development', and 'culture', the final goal of 'progress' is nothing less than the destruction of life.

This destructive urge takes many forms: progress is devastating forests, exterminating animal species, extinguishing native cultures, masking and distorting the pristine landscape with the varnish of industrialism, and debasing the organic life that still survives.”

“The profundity of truth varies with the seeing power of the spirit which seeks it.”