Introduction,
Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, historian, and socialist revolutionary who is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the development of modern communism and socialism. He was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, a city in what is now western Germany.
Marx studied law and philosophy at the universities of Bonn and Berlin, and he later became a journalist, writing for radical newspapers in Germany and France. He developed his ideas about socialism and the role of capitalism in the economy during his years as a journalist and activist.
Marx’s most famous work, “The Communist Manifesto,” which he co-wrote with Friedrich Engels, was published in 1848. This book outlines the principles of communism and the need for a proletarian revolution to overthrow the capitalist system.
Marx’s other major work, “Das Kapital,” published in 1867, is a detailed analysis of the capitalist economy and the exploitation of the working class.
Marx died on March 14, 1883, in London, England, where he had lived in exile for much of his life. Despite his death, his ideas about communism and socialism continued to gain popularity throughout the 20th century, and his writings continue to influence political and economic thought around the world.
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.
Religion is the opium of the people.
Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.
Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.
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.
Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form.
The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.
Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through.
The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.
Freedom consists in converting the state from an organ superimposed upon society into one completely subordinate to it.
The rich will do anything for the poor but get off their backs.
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 history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
Social progress can be measured by the social position of the female sex.
The bureaucracy is a circle from which no one can escape. Its hierarchy is a hierarchy of knowledge.
Democracy is the road to socialism.
The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.
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.
To be radical is to grasp things by the root.
Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.
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 proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.
As machines become more and more efficient and perfect, so it will become clear that imperfection is the greatness of man.
The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.
The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.
The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.
Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the laborer, unless under compulsion from society.
The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament.
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.
Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.
The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain.
The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.
Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite!
The rich will do anything for the poor but get off their backs.
If anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist.
Nothing can have value without being an object of utility.
From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.
Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.
Religion is the opium of the masses.
Democracy is the road to socialism.
Society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand.
Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form.
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.
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.
Landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed.
The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.
The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.
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 history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.
Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time.
The writer must earn money in order to be able to live and to write, but he must by no means live and write for the purpose of making money.
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.
Religion is the impotence of the human mind to deal with occurrences it cannot understand.
Revolutions are the locomotives of history.
