I am nothing but I must be everything.
Karl MarxRead
The consciousness of the past weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.
Interpretation
The awareness of historical events can burden those who live in the present.
This quote by Karl Marx highlights the impact of historical consciousness on contemporary society. It suggests that the memories and experiences of the past can create a heavy burden for individuals, affecting their thoughts, behaviors, and societal structures. The 'nightmare' metaphor emphasizes the negative influence of unresolved issues from history that continue to haunt the present.
In practice
In a discussion on social justice, one might use this quote to illustrate the burdens of historical injustices.
I am nothing but I must be everything.
Religion is the opiate of the people.
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.
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.
To be radical is to grasp things by the root.
Men's ideas are the most direct emanations of their material state.
Sometimes immense things, like war and death and aging, are best seen from the corner of the eye and written of only obliquely, with tremendous lightness.
The principles which men give to themselves end by overwhelming their noblest intentions.
Interest is the spur of the people, but glory that of great souls. Invention is the talent of youth, and judgment of age.
Too much has been forgotten in the name of memory.
Tout est poison, rien n'est poison, tout est une question de dose. Everything is poisonous, nothing is poisonous, it is all a matter of dose.
The character of God is today, and always will be, exactly what it was in Bible times.
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