Karl Marx

1818–1883 · German philosopher, economist & revolutionary socialist

Karl Marx was born in Trier in the Kingdom of Prussia in 1818 and died in London in 1883, having spent most of his adult life stateless and in exile. He wrote as a philosopher and political economist — The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels in 1848, then the three volumes of Das Kapital — and his subject was the machinery of production, class and history, not the management of one’s social circle. His writing about human relations sits in the register of alienation and labour; the vocabulary of ‘people who genuinely care’ and ‘worth keeping in your life’ belongs to a much later idiom, one that postdates him by well over a century.

Traced to source

9 quotes we’ve traced to Karl Marx

“Religion is the opium of the people”

Verified

“Religion is the opiate of the masses”

Attributed

“Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains”

Attributed

“Be careful to trust a person who does not like wine”

Disputed

“Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity”

Disputed

“Democracy is the road to socialism”

Disputed

“Last words are for fools who haven't said enough”

Disputed

“Owners of capital will stimulate working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks which will have to be nationalized and State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism”

Disputed

“Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you're in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through”

Disputed

Not actually Karl Marx

Often misattributed to Karl Marx

Famous lines widely pinned on Karl Marx that we’ve traced to someone else.

“Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity”

actually Unknown

“Last words are for fools who haven't said enough”

actually Unknown

“Owners of capital will stimulate working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks which will have to be nationalized and State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism”

actually Unknown — an anonymous online forward

“Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you're in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through”

actually Unknown

“The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament”

actually Vladimir Lenin

“The rich will do anything for the poor but get off their backs”

actually Leo Tolstoy

Did they really say it?

Thought Karl Marx said something else?

Type a quote you think Karl Marx said — we’ll tell you what we know, or point you to the best sources.