Quote collection
63 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Freedom does not consist in any dreamt-of independence from natural laws, but in the knowledge of these laws, and in the possibility this gives of systematically making them work towards definite ends."
"All history has been a history of class struggles, of struggles between exploited and exploiting, between dominated and dominating classes at various stages of social development."
"What is Communism? Communism is the doctrine of the conditions of the liberation of the proletariat. What is the proletariat? The proletariat is that class in society which lives entirely from the sale of its labor and does not draw profit from any kind of capital; whose weal and woe, whose life and death, whose sole existence depends on the demand for labor."
"The state is nothing but an instrument of opression of one class by another - no less so in a democratic republic than in a monarchy."
"We find two great gangs of political speculators, who alternately take possession of the state power and exploit it by the most corrupt ends -- the nation is powerless against these two great cartels of politicians who are ostensibly its servants, but in reality dominate and plunder it."
"Terror consists mostly of useless cruelties perpetrated by frightened people in order to reassure themselves."
"Freedom is the recognition of necessity."
"Everything must justify its existence before the judgment seat of Reason, or give up existence."
"Without analysis, no synthesis."
"The emancipation of woman will only be possible when woman can take part in production on a large, social scale, and domestic work no longer claims anything but an insignificant amount of her time."
"Some laws of state aimed at curbing crime are even more criminal."
"...it was always our view that in order to attain this [proletarian revolution] and the other far more important aims of the future social revolution, the working class must first take possession of the organised political power of the state and by its aid crush the resistance of the capitalist class and organise society anew."
"From the first day to this, sheer greed was the driving spirit of civilization."
"No nation can be free if it oppresses other nations."
"Ideas often kindle each other, like electrical sparks."
"Just as Darwin discovered the law of evolution in organic nature, so Marx discovered the law of evolution in human history; he discovered the simple fact, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of idealogy [sic], that mankind must first of all eat and drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, religion, art etc."
"I have learned more [from Balzac] than from all the professional historians, economists, and statisticians put together."
"Ireland still remains the Holy Isle whose aspirations must on no account be mixed with the profane class-struggles of the rest of the sinful world ... the Irish peasant must not on any account know that the Socialist workers are his sole allies in Europe."
"All the other large and small nationalities and peoples are destined to perish before long in the revolutionary world storm. The next world war will result in the disappearance from the face of the earth not only of reactionary classes and dynasties, but also of entire reactionary peoples. And that, too, is a step forward."
"The proletariat uses the State not in the interests of freedom but in order to hold down its adversaries, and as soon as it becomes possible to speak of freedom the State as such ceases to exist."