Oswald Spengler

press army weapons officer soldier reader

“The press today is an army with carefully organized weapons, the journalists its officers, the readers its soldiers. The reader neither knows nor is supposed to know the purposes for which he is used and the role he is to play.”

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

truth multitude read hear

“What is truth? For the multitude, that which it continually reads and hears.”

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

money democracy destroy intellect

“Through money, democracy becomes its own destroyer, after money has destroyed intellect.”

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

socialism capitalism lower class

“Socialism is nothing but the capitalism of the lower classes.”

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

country-town blood giant city suck waste

“Long ago the country bore the country-town and nourished it with her best blood. Now the giant city sucks the country dry, insatiably and incessantly demanding and devouring fresh streams of men, till it wearies and dies in the midst of an almost uninhabited waste of country.”

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

englishman wealth millionaire country

“When the Englishman speaks of national wealth he means the number of millionaires in the country.”

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

wealthy powerful money intellect democracy

“At the beginning a man was wealthy because he was powerful — now he is powerful because he has money. Intellect reaches the throne only when money puts it there. Democracy is the completed equating of money with political power.”

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

think freely permit capable freedom

"Formerly no one was allowed to think freely; now it is permitted, but no one is capable of it any more. Now people want to think only what they are supposed to think, and this they consider freedom."

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

optimism cowardice

"Optimism is cowardice."

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

peace desire war fact history

"Peace is a desire, war is a fact; and history has never paid heed to human desires and ideals."

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

man history woman reproduction maternal life

"Man makes history; woman is history. The reproduction of the species is feminine: it runs steadily and quietly through all species, animal or human, through all short-lived cultures. It is primary, unchanging, everlasting, maternal, plantlike, and cultureless. If we look back we find that it is synonymous with life itself."

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

action alter soul doer

"Every action alters the soul of the doer."

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

democrat freedom for from press

"To-day a democrat of the old school would demand, not freedom for the press, but freedom from the press; but mean-time the leaders have changed themselves into parvenus who have to secure their position vis-a-vis the masses."

—Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)