I am nothing but I must be everything.
Karl MarxRead
...the very cannibalism of the counterrevolution will convince the nations that there is only one way in which the murderous death agonies of the old society and the bloody birth throes of the new society can be shortened, simplified and concentrated, and that way is revolutionary terror.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that through revolutionary actions, societies can transition from oppressive systems to new ones more swiftly.
Karl Marx's quote reflects his belief in the necessity of violent upheaval to achieve societal change. He posits that the existing oppressive structures must be dismantled through radical means, including 'revolutionary terror,' to bring about a new society. This perspective highlights the urgency and the brutal realities of both societal decay and the birth of revolutionary change, suggesting that only through significant upheaval can a society hope to move toward a more just future.
Themes
RevolutionSocietyChangeViolenceMarx
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the necessity of radical change in society.
More from Karl Marx
All quotes →Religion is the opiate of the people.
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It is absolutely impossible to transcend the laws of nature. What can change in historically different circumstances is only the form in which these laws expose themselves.
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Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.
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To be radical is to grasp things by the root.
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Men's ideas are the most direct emanations of their material state.
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