Karl Marx
- 1. “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” — Karl Marx, Theses on Feuerbach (1845)
- 2. “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” — Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (1848)
- 3. “Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains!” — Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (1848)
- 4. “Religion is the opium of the people.” — Karl Marx, Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right (1843)
- 5. “The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.” — Karl Marx, The German Ideology (1846)
- 6. “The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.” — Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
- 7. “The rich will do anything for the poor but get off their backs.” — Karl Marx (attributed)
- 8. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” — Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program (1875)
- 9. “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.” — Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (1848)
- 10. “The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope.” — Karl Marx
- 11. “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas.” — Karl Marx, The German Ideology (1846)
- 12. “Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.” — Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I (1867)
- 13. “To be radical is to grasp the root of the matter. But, for man, the root is man himself.” — Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right (1843)
- 14. “Capital is dead labour, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labour.” — Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I (1867)
- 15. “The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.” — Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (1848)
- 16. “The weapon of criticism cannot, of course, replace the criticism of weapons.”— Karl Marx, Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right (1843)
- 17. “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” — Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852)
- 18. “The more of himself man gives to his work, the more powerful becomes the alien world of objects which he creates over against himself.” — Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
- 19. “Between equal rights, force decides.” — Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I (1867)
- 20. “In bourgeois society, capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality.” — Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (1848)
- 21. “The human essence is the ensemble of the social relations.” — Karl Marx, Theses on Feuerbach (1845)
- 22. “Social progress can be measured by the social position of the female sex.” — Karl Marx (attributed)
- 23. “The working men have no country.” — Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (1848)
- 24. “The circulation of commodities is the starting point of capital.” — Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I (1867)
- 25. “Man produces even when he is free from physical need, and truly produces only in freedom.” — Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
- 26. “The more the worker produces, the less he has to consume.” — Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
- 27. “Machines were, it may be said, the weapon employed by the capitalists to quell the revolt of specialized labour.” — Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I (1867)
- 28. “The forming of the five senses is a labor of the entire history of the world down to the present.” — Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
- 29. “Man is by nature a social animal; production by isolated individuals outside society is an absurdity.” — Karl Marx, The German Ideology (1846)
- 30. “Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution.” — Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
Who was Karl Marx?
Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, and revolutionary socialist. He is best known for his works on class struggle, capitalism, and communism, including The Communist Manifesto and Capital.
Are these Karl Marx quotes in the public domain?
Yes. All quotes listed are from works published before 1883, making them public domain. You can freely use them on blogs, websites, or social media with proper attribution.
What topics do these Karl Marx quotes cover?
The quotes focus on society, class struggle, capitalism, labor, human nature, and the philosophy of communism. They highlight Marx’s critical views on social and economic structures.
Can I use these Karl Marx quotes on my website or blog?
Absolutely. Since these quotes are public domain, you can use them freely, but it’s good practice to include citations showing the original work and year.
Where can I find Karl Marx’s original works for reference?
Many of Marx’s works are available online for free via Project Gutenberg, Marxists.org, and public libraries. Key texts include The Communist Manifesto (1848), Capital (1867), and Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844).