---
title: "6 Capitalist Quotes By Terry Eagleton"
description: "6 Capitalist quotes by Terry Eagleton. Plus more from Terry Eagleton and more Capitalist sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/terry-eagleton-1660_back-again_if-there-are-indeed-any-iron-laws-of-his_977544.jpg"
---

> [If there are indeed any iron laws of history, one of them is surely that in any major crisis of the capitalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/if-there-are-indeed-any-iron-laws-of-history-one-of-them-is-surely/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/terry-eagleton-1660_back-again_if-there-are-indeed-any-iron-laws-of-his_977544.jpg)

> [Modern capitalist nations are the fruit of a history of slavery, genocide, violence and exploitation every bit as abhorrent as Mao's China…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/modern-capitalist-nations-are-the-fruit-of-a-history-of-slavery/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71b/terry-eagleton-1660_abhorrent_modern-capitalist-nations-are-the-fruit_1038278.png)

> [Because subjects like literature and art history have no obvious material pay-off, they tend to attract those who look askance at capitalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/because-subjects-like-literature-and-art-history-have-no-obvious/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/terry-eagleton-1660_affair_because-subjects-like-literature-and-art_1398179.jpg)

> [You can tell that the capitalist system is in trouble when people start talking about capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system-is-in-trouble-when-people/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c22/terry-eagleton-1660_capitalism_you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system_2543819.png)

> [The most compelling confirmation of Marx's theory of history is late capitalist society. There is a sense in which this case is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/the-most-compelling-confirmation-of-marx-s-theory-of-history-is-late/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdd/terry-eagleton-1660_becoming_the-most-compelling-confirmation-of-marx_2858881.png)

> [“You can tell that the capitalist system is in trouble when people start talking about capitalism. It indicates that the system has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system-is-in-trouble-when-people-2/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/terry-eagleton-1660_capitalism_you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system_3115923.jpg)

## Other authors on Capitalist

## More by Terry Eagleton

> [Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. Only when the original invasion, occupation, extermination or usurpation has been safely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/nations-sometimes-flourish-by-denying-the-crimes-that-brought-them/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [The study of history and philosophy, accompanied by some acquaintance with art and literature, should be for lawyers and engineers as well as for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/the-study-of-history-and-philosophy-accompanied-by-some-acquaintance/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [To claim that science and religion pose different questions to the world is not to suggest that if the bones of Jesus were discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/to-claim-that-science-and-religion-pose-different-questions-to-the/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [“Evil may be 'unscientific' but so is a song or a smile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/evil-may-be-unscientific-but-so-is-a-song-or-a-smile/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [Virtue is something you have to get good at, like playing the trombone or tolerating bores at parties. Being a virtuous human being takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/virtue-is-something-you-have-to-get-good-at-like-playing-the-trombone/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [All propaganda or popularization involves a putting of the complex into the simple, but such a move is instantly not constructive. For if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/all-propaganda-or-popularization-involves-a-putting-of-the-complex/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [God chose what is weakest in the world to shame the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/god-chose-what-is-weakest-in-the-world-to-shame-the-strong/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [Reading is not a straightforward linear movement, a merely cumulative affair: our initial speculations generate a frame of reference within which to interpret what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/reading-is-not-a-straightforward-linear-movement-a-merely-cumulative/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [“What it means to be a ‘better person’, then, must be concrete and practical — that is to say, concerned with people’s political situations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/what-it-means-to-be-a-better-person-then-must-be-concrete-and/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [“What we consume now is not objects or events, but our experience of them. Just as we never need to leave our cars, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/what-we-consume-now-is-not-objects-or-events-but-our-experience-of/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [“The theatre can teach us some truth, but it is the truth of the illusory nature of our existence. It can alert us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/the-theatre-can-teach-us-some-truth-but-it-is-the-truth-of-the/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [“What we have witnessed in our own time is the death of universities as centres of critique. Since Margaret Thatcher, the role of academia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/what-we-have-witnessed-in-our-own-time-is-the-death-of-universities/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [In the deep night of metaphysics, all cats look black.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/in-the-deep-night-of-metaphysics-all-cats-look-black/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [We face a conflict between civilisation and culture, which used to be on the same side. Civilisation means rational reflection, material wellbeing, individual autonomy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/we-face-a-conflict-between-civilisation-and-culture-which-used-to-be/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/terry-eagleton/#itemlist",
            "name": "6 Capitalist Quotes By Terry Eagleton",
            "numberOfItems": 6,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "If there are indeed any iron laws of history, one of them is surely that in any major crisis of the capitalist system, a sector of the liberal middle class will shift to the left, and then shift smartly back again once the crisis has blown over.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Eagleton"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/if-there-are-indeed-any-iron-laws-of-history-one-of-them-is-surely/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/terry-eagleton-1660_back-again_if-there-are-indeed-any-iron-laws-of-his_977544.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/terry-eagleton-1660_back-again_if-there-are-indeed-any-iron-laws-of-his_977544.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/terry-eagleton-1660_back-again_if-there-are-indeed-any-iron-laws-of-his_977544.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“If there are indeed any iron laws of history, one of them is surely that in any major crisis of the…” — Terry Eagleton",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Modern capitalist nations are the fruit of a history of slavery, genocide, violence and exploitation every bit as abhorrent as Mao's China or Stalin's Soviet Union.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Eagleton"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/modern-capitalist-nations-are-the-fruit-of-a-history-of-slavery/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71b/terry-eagleton-1660_abhorrent_modern-capitalist-nations-are-the-fruit_1038278.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71b/terry-eagleton-1660_abhorrent_modern-capitalist-nations-are-the-fruit_1038278.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71b/terry-eagleton-1660_abhorrent_modern-capitalist-nations-are-the-fruit_1038278.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Modern capitalist nations are the fruit of a history of slavery, genocide, violence and exploitation every…” — Terry Eagleton",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Because subjects like literature and art history have no obvious material pay-off, they tend to attract those who look askance at capitalist notions of utility. The idea of doing something purely for the delight of it has always rattled the grey-bearded guardians of the state. Sheer pointlessness has always been a deeply subversive affair.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Eagleton"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/because-subjects-like-literature-and-art-history-have-no-obvious/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/terry-eagleton-1660_affair_because-subjects-like-literature-and-art_1398179.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/terry-eagleton-1660_affair_because-subjects-like-literature-and-art_1398179.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/terry-eagleton-1660_affair_because-subjects-like-literature-and-art_1398179.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Because subjects like literature and art history have no obvious material pay-off, they tend to attract…” — Terry Eagleton",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "You can tell that the capitalist system is in trouble when people start talking about capitalism.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Eagleton"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system-is-in-trouble-when-people/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c22/terry-eagleton-1660_capitalism_you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system_2543819.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c22/terry-eagleton-1660_capitalism_you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system_2543819.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c22/terry-eagleton-1660_capitalism_you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system_2543819.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“You can tell that the capitalist system is in trouble when people start talking about capitalism.” — Terry Eagleton",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The most compelling confirmation of Marx's theory of history is late capitalist society. There is a sense in which this case is becoming truer as time passes.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Eagleton"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/the-most-compelling-confirmation-of-marx-s-theory-of-history-is-late/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdd/terry-eagleton-1660_becoming_the-most-compelling-confirmation-of-marx_2858881.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdd/terry-eagleton-1660_becoming_the-most-compelling-confirmation-of-marx_2858881.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdd/terry-eagleton-1660_becoming_the-most-compelling-confirmation-of-marx_2858881.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The most compelling confirmation of Marx's theory of history is late capitalist society. There is a sense in…” — Terry Eagleton",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 6,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“You can tell that the capitalist system is in trouble when people start talking about capitalism. It indicates that the system has ceased to be as natural as the air we breathe, and can be seen instead as the historically rather recent phenomenon that it is.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Eagleton"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system-is-in-trouble-when-people-2/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/terry-eagleton-1660_capitalism_you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system_3115923.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/terry-eagleton-1660_capitalism_you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system_3115923.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/terry-eagleton-1660_capitalism_you-can-tell-that-the-capitalist-system_3115923.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“You can tell that the capitalist system is in trouble when people start talking about capitalism. It…” — Terry Eagleton",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/terry-eagleton/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/terry-eagleton/",
            "name": "Capitalist Quotes by Terry Eagleton",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/terry-eagleton/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/terry-eagleton-1660_back-again_if-there-are-indeed-any-iron-laws-of-his_977544.jpg"
            },
            "description": "6 Capitalist quotes by Terry Eagleton. Plus more from Terry Eagleton and more Capitalist sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/terry-eagleton/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/terry-eagleton/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Capitalist",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Terry Eagleton",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/terry-eagleton/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
