QuoteProject
There are no circumstances imaginable, not even victory, under which the proletariat should give up its possession of arms.
Karl Marx
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of the proletariat maintaining their power and means of defense, even in times of success.

Karl Marx argues that the proletariat must always retain their weapons and power regardless of their circumstances, including victory. This statement reflects a broader principle of vigilance and the necessity for the working class to safeguard their rights and capacity to resist oppression, highlighting the belief that surrendering power can lead to tyranny and loss of emancipation.

Themes

ProletariatArmsPowerDefenseOppression

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about workers' rights, this quote can underline the necessity for continuous awareness and readiness to defend those rights.

More from Karl Marx

I am nothing but I must be everything.
Karl MarxRead
Religion is the opiate of the people.
Karl MarxRead
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.
Karl MarxRead
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.
Karl MarxRead
To be radical is to grasp things by the root.
Karl MarxRead
Men's ideas are the most direct emanations of their material state.
Karl MarxRead

Similar quotes

The minor choices we make are themselves a kind of vote. Our words and gestures, or their absence, count very much.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
Although we are all the same in not wanting problems and wanting a peaceful life, we tend to create a lot of problems for ourselves. Encountering those problems, anger develops and overwhelms our mind, which leads to violence. A good way to counter this and to work for a more peaceful world is to develop concern for others. Then our anger, jealousy and other destructive emotions will naturally weaken and diminish.
Dalai LamaRead
An effective proclamation of the Gospel in contemporary Western society will need to confront directly the widespread spirit of agnosticism and relativism which has cast doubt on reason's ability to know the truth, which alone satisfies the human heart's restless quest for meaning.
Pope John Paul IiRead
Nothing looks so like innocence as an indiscretion.
Oscar WildeRead
How nice -- to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive.
Kurt VonnegutRead
I have not asked for life._x000D_ But I try to accept whatever_x000D_ life brings without surprise._x000D_ And I shall depart again without having_x000D_ questioned anyone about my strange_x000D_ stay here on earth.
Omar KhayyamRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.