QuoteProject
If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people.
Karl Marx
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

True happiness comes from contributing to the greater good rather than seeking selfish pleasures.

In this quote, Karl Marx emphasizes that fulfillment in life is attained through selfless service to humanity. When individuals position themselves to work for the welfare of others, their burdens become meaningful sacrifices, leading to a profound joy that transcends personal gain, thus creating a legacy that continues to inspire and benefit future generations.

Themes

HappinessSelflessnessServiceHumanitySacrificeLegacy

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech advocating community service, one might say this quote to inspire volunteers.

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

It will be forgotten, on the one hand, that jealousy is the usual concomitant of violent love, and that the noble enthusiasm of liberty is too apt to be infected with a spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust. On the other hand, it will be equally forgotten, that the vigour of government is essential to the security of liberty.
Alexander HamiltonRead
It is arguable that the success of business propaganda in persuading us, for so long, that we are free from propaganda is one of the most significant propaganda achievements of the twentieth century.
Alex CareyRead
Truth is not to be found outside. No teacher, no scripture can give it to you. It is inside you and if you wish to attain it, seek your own company. Be with yourself.
RajneeshRead
We need God, not in order to understand the why, but in order to feel and sustain the ultimate wherefore, to give a meaning to the universe.
Miguel De UnamunoRead
People, human beings with all their creative diversity, are the makers of history.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
One human life is deeper than the ocean. Strange fishes and sea-monsters and mighty plants live in the rock-bed of our spirits. The whole of human history is an undiscovered continent deep in our souls. There are dolphins, plants that dream, magic birds inside us. The sky is inside us. The earth is in us.
Ben OkriRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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