In This Article
About Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx FRSA was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 pamphlet The Communist Manifesto and the four-volume Das Kapital.
Born: 5 May 1818, Trier, Germany
Died: 14 March 1883, London, United Kingdom
100 Top Quotes by Karl Marx in English
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
- “Religion is the opium of the people.”
- “Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.”
- “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”
- “Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.”
- “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”
- “The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
- “The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.”
- “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.”
- “The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.”
- “The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his ‘natural superiors,’ and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, callous ‘cash payment.'”
- “The history of the world is not the theater of happiness. Periods of happiness are blank pages in it, for they are periods of harmony — periods when the antithesis is in abeyance.”
- “Freedom is the recognition of necessity.”
- “The human being is in the most literal sense a political animal, not merely a gregarious animal, but an animal which can individuate itself only in the midst of society.”
- “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
- “In every revolution there intrude, at the side of its true agents, men of a different stamp; some of them survivors of and devotees to past revolutions, without insight into the present movement, but preserving popular influence by their known honesty and courage, or by the sheer force of tradition; others mere brawlers who seek to revolutionize solely in order to make a name for themselves.”
- “The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”
- “The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.”
- “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.”
- “The idea of the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ is not that the proletariat will carry out a dictatorship over other classes; rather, it means that, to the extent that the proletariat is able, it will take the place of the bourgeoisie as the leading class, in order to gradually eliminate the differences between classes and create a classless society.”
- “The art of politics consists in knowing precisely when it is necessary to hit an opponent slightly below the belt.”
- “In a higher phase of communist society… only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be fully left behind and society inscribe on its banners: from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
- “The bureaucracy is a circle from which no one can escape. Its hierarchy is a hierarchy of knowledge.”
- “Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the laborer, unless under compulsion from society.”
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
- “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.”
- “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
- “Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.”
- “Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form.”
- “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite!”
- “The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.”
- “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”
- “The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”
- “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”
- “Society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand.”
- “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society.”
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
- “The worker of the world has nothing to lose, but their chains, workers of the world, unite.”
- “Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another.”
- “The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas.”
- “The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.”
- “Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.”
- “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”
- “To be radical is to grasp things by the root.”
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
- “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
- “The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
- “The more the division of labor and the application of machinery extend, the more does competition extend among the workers, the more do their wages shrink together.”
- “The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage laborers.”
- “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
- “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
- “The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.”
- “The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.”
- “The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”
- “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite!”
- “The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.”
- “The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
- “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
- “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.”
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
- “The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas.”
- “The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage laborers.”
- “To be radical is to grasp things by the root.”
- “The proletarian woman fights hand in hand with the man of her class against capitalist society.”
- “Religion is the opium of the people.”
- “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness.”
- “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”
- “The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas.”
- “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them.”
- “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
- “The human being is in the most literal sense a political animal, not merely a gregarious animal, but an animal which can individuate itself only in the midst of society.”
- “The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
- “Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!”
- “The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.”
- “Social progress can be measured by the social position of the female sex.”
- “Experience praises the most happy the one who made the most people happy.”
- “The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilization.”
- “The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.”
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
- “Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form.”
- “The more the division of labor and the application of machinery extend, the more does competition extend among the workers, the more do their wages shrink together.”
- “Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.”
- “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society.”
- “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”
- “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.”
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
- “In every revolution, it takes only a moment to destroy an old governmental power, but it takes decades to build a new one.”
- “The less you eat, drink, buy books, go to the theater, go dancing, go drinking, think, love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save and the greater becomes your treasure which neither moths nor dust will devour.”
- “The bourgeoisie will remember my carbuncles until their dying day.”
- “Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.”
- “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.”
- “Religion is the impotence of the human mind to deal with occurrences it cannot understand.”
- “The working class is revolutionary or it is nothing.”
- “Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.”
- “The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage laborers.”
- “The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.”
- “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society.”
- “The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.”
- “The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates.”
FAQs:
Who was Karl Marx?
Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is most famous for his work in developing the concept of communism and his critical analysis of capitalism.
When was Karl Marx born?
Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, Germany.
What were some of Karl Marx’s notable achievements?
Karl Marx’s most notable achievement was his development of the idea of communism, which he believed was the inevitable outcome of the historical development of human society. He also wrote several influential works on economics and social theory, including “The Communist Manifesto” and “Das Kapital.”
Did Karl Marx ever hold political office?
No, Karl Marx never held political office.
What was Karl Marx’s relationship with Friedrich Engels?
Friedrich Engels was a close friend and collaborator of Karl Marx. The two men met in Paris in 1844 and worked together on several projects, including the writing of “The Communist Manifesto.”
Where did Karl Marx live?
Karl Marx lived in several countries during his lifetime, including Germany, France, Belgium, and England. He spent the last 34 years of his life in London, where he died in 1883.
What is the Marxist theory of history?
The Marxist theory of history, also known as historical materialism, is the idea that the history of human society is shaped by the struggle between social classes over control of the means of production. Marx believed that the development of human society could be divided into several stages, each characterized by a particular mode of production.
What is the labor theory of value?
The labor theory of value is an economic theory developed by Karl Marx that argues that the value of a good or service is determined by the amount of labor that went into producing it.
What is the concept of surplus value?
The concept of surplus value, also known as profit, is a key idea in Marx’s critique of capitalism. Marx argued that the value of a worker’s labor is greater than the wages they are paid, and that the difference between the value of their labor and their wages is the source of profit for capitalists.
What is Karl Marx’s legacy?
Karl Marx’s legacy includes his contributions to the development of communist theory and his influence on social, economic, and political thought. He is widely regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the modern era and his ideas continue to inspire and inform political movements around the world.
