I am nothing but I must be everything.
Karl MarxRead
Since only what is material is perceptible, knowable, nothing is known of the existence of God.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote argues that if only material things can be perceived, then God, as a non-material entity, cannot be known or understood.
In this quote, Karl Marx emphasizes the philosophical stance of materialism, suggesting that knowledge is limited to what can be observed and experienced through the senses. Since God is typically considered to be an immaterial being, Marx asserts that the existence or nature of God remains unknowable under a materialistic worldview, thus challenging the foundations of religious belief and calling into question the relationship between faith and empirical knowledge.
Themes
MaterialismKnowledgeGodPhilosophyBelief
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical debate about the nature of reality and belief, this quote could illustrate the limitations of human understanding.
More from Karl Marx
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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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