I am nothing but I must be everything.
Karl MarxRead
All freed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the impermanence of social relationships and values in a rapidly changing world.
This quote by Karl Marx highlights the idea that traditional relationships and values, once perceived as solid and eternal, are constantly being challenged and transformed. As society evolves, the old prejudices and opinions that once defined human interactions disintegrate, making way for new, yet equally transient, forms of connection. The call to face 'real conditions of life' emphasizes a deeper understanding of our existence and relationships in an ever-changing environment.
Themes
ChangeRelationshipsSocietyValuesTransience
In practice
Example use cases
A discussion on how modern technology has changed our relationships.
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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