Karl Marx, a renowned German philosopher, significantly contributed to discussions about economics, political economy and society.
Spending substantial time in London, Marx authored many influential works, notably “The Communist Manifesto” and “Capital (Das Kapital)”, often collaborating with close friend and social theorist Friedrich Engels.
He was recognized for his revolutionary writings advocating socialism and promoting a communist revolution.
Although Marxism and Marxian economics aren’t widely accepted in today’s mainstream discourse, Marx’s criticisms of capitalism maintain their relevance, underlining his enduring impact on social and economic thought.
Related: Guy Debord Quotes from the French Philosopher and Plato Quotes from the Ancient Greek Philosopher
I have collected a list of best quotes from Karl Marx for you.
Best Karl Marx Quotes
1. “Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.” ~ (Karl Marx).
2. “Democracy is the road to socialism.” ~ (Karl Marx).
3. “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways: the point, however, is to change it.” ~ (Karl Marx).
4. “Follow your own path, no matter what people say.” ~ (Karl Marx).
5. “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” ~ (Karl Marx).
6. “Religion is the opium of the masses.” ~ (Karl Marx).
7. “Revolutions are the locomotives of history.” ~ Karl Marx.
8. “The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.” ~ Karl Marx.
9. “The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.” ~ Karl Marx.
10. “History is the judge – its executioner, the proletarian.” ~ Karl Marx.
11. “My object in life is to dethrone God and destroy capitalism.” ~ (Karl Marx).
12. “Social progress can be measured by the social position of the female sex.” ~ (Karl Marx).
Inspiring Karl Marx Quotes
13. “If you can cut the people off from their history, then they can be easily persuaded.” ~ (Karl Marx).
14. “Money is the alienated essence of man’s work and existence; this essence dominates him and he worships it.” ~ (Karl Marx).
15. “Ideas do not exist separately from language.” ~ (Karl Marx).
16. “Money degrades all the gods of man and converts them into commodities.” ~ (Karl Marx).
17. “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.” ~ (Karl Marx).
18. “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!” ~ (Karl Marx).
19. “We have no compassion and we ask no compassion from you. When our turn comes, we shall not make excuses for the terror.” ~ (Karl Marx).
20. “The entire so-called history of the world is nothing but the creation of man through human labor.” ~ (Karl Marx).
21. “Communism begins where atheism begins…” ~ (Karl Marx).
22. “Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution.” ~ (Karl Marx).
23. “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” ~ (Karl Marx).
24. “There is only one way to kill capitalism – by taxes, taxes, and more taxes.” ~ (Karl Marx).
25. “To be radical is to grasp things by the root.” ~ (Karl Marx).
Inspirational Karl Marx Quotes
26. “In my free time I do differential and integral calculus.” ~ (Karl Marx).
27. “The alienation of man thus appeared as the fundamental evil of capitalist society.” ~ (Karl Marx).
28. “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.” ~ (Karl Marx).
29. “I hate money and Jews.” ~ (Karl Marx).
30. “Luxury is the opposite of the naturally necessary.” ~ (Karl Marx).
31. “Men make their own history but not in circumstances of their own choosing.” ~ (Karl Marx).
32. “The true law of economics is chance, and we learned people arbitrarily seize on a few moments and establish them as laws.” ~ (Karl Marx).
33. “Be careful to trust a person who does not like wine.” ~ (Karl Marx).
34. “There is only one effective antidote for mental suffering and that is physical pain.” ~ (Karl Marx).
35. “Medicine heals doubts as well as diseases.” ~ (Karl Marx).
36. “The task is not just to understand the world but to change it.” ~ (Karl Marx).
37. “The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.” ~ (Karl Marx).
38. “Experience praises the most happy, the one who made the most people happy.” ~ (Karl Marx).
Motivational Karl Marx Quotes
39. “The criticism of Religion is the beginning of all criticism.” ~ (Karl Marx).
40. “Fascism in power is the open, terroristic dictatorship of the most reactionary, the most chauvinistic, the most imperialistic elements of finance capitalism.” ~ (Karl Marx).
41. “To destroy Christianity, we must first destroy the British Empire.” ~ (Karl Marx).
42. “Music is the mirror of reality.” ~ (Karl Marx).
43. “Beauty is the main positive form of the aesthetic assimilation of reality, in which aesthetic ideal finds it direct expression.” ~ (Karl Marx).
44. “Go on, get out – last words are for fools who haven’t said enough. To his housekeeper, who urged him to tell her his last words so she could write them down for posterity.” ~ (Karl Marx).
45. “The religious world is but a reflex of the real world.” ~ (Karl Marx).
46. “The past lies like a nightmare upon the present.” ~ (Karl Marx).
47. “The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.” ~ (Karl Marx).
Great Karl Marx Quotes
48. “Money plays the largest part in determining the course of history.” ~ (Karl Marx).
49. “The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.” ~ (Karl Marx).
50. “Every beginning is difficult, holds in all sciences.” ~ (Karl Marx).
51. ” The country that is more developed industrially only shows, to the less developed, the image of its own future.” ~ Karl Marx.
52. “The bureaucracy is a circle from which no one can escape. Its hierarchy is a hierarchy of knowledge.” ~ Karl Marx.
53. “Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form.” ~ Karl Marx.
54. “In the eyes of dialectical philosophy, nothing is established for all times, nothing is absolute or sacred.” ~ (Karl Marx).
55. “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.” ~ (Karl Marx).
56. “The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope.” ~ (Karl Marx).
57. “I am nothing but I must be everything.” ~ (Karl Marx).
