--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything must justify its existence…" description: "\"Everything must justify its existence before the judgment seat of Reason, or give up existence.\" — Friedrich Engels" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/440/friedrich-engels-8301_existence_everything-must-justify-its-existence-be_2977671.jpg" --- # Everything must justify its existence before the judgment… ![“Everything must justify its existence before the judgment seat of Reason, or give up existence.” quote by Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/440/friedrich-engels-8301_existence_everything-must-justify-its-existence-be_2977671.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/440/friedrich-engels-8301_existence_everything-must-justify-its-existence-be_2977671.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/440/friedrich-engels-8301_existence_everything-must-justify-its-existence-be_2977671.jpg) > “Everything must justify its existence before the judgment seat of Reason, or give up existence.” [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Existence must be justified by rational scrutiny, otherwise it is dismissed. **In simple terms:** Reason judges existence. Key Takeaway Apply critical analysis to claims. Themes reason existence judgment Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - scientific research - policy making - ethical review Key Concepts philosophy critical‑theory Questions to Reflect On - What criteria do you use to validate existence? - How does reason coexist with belief? A Different Perspective May ignore emotional or cultural dimensions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-judgment-4615737/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-up/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Justify](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justify/) [Justify Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justify-existence-257161/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-existence-1154443/) ## Related quotes > [“...although the reason for the existence of women is obvious enough, nobody has any real idea what point there is in being a man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jones/although-the-reason-for-the-existence-of-women-is-obvious-enough/) [Steve Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jones/) > [“An existant can never justify the existence of another existant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/an-existant-can-never-justify-the-existence-of-another-existant/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [I feel worn down as a human being who has to constantly justify their existence to other human beings because I'm a minority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/killer-mike/i-feel-worn-down-as-a-human-being-who-has-to-constantly-justify-their/) [Killer Mike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/killer-mike/) > [The hour when you say, "What does my happiness matter? It is poverty and filth, and a wretched complacency. Yet my happiness should justify…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-hour-when-you-say-what-does-my-happiness-matter-it-is-poverty-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Is a reason for existence necessary?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-evans/is-a-reason-for-existence-necessary/) [John L. Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-evans/) > [“. If that which was figured out long ago was the ultimate, then there would be no reason for your existence today.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/if-that-which-was-figured-out-long-ago-was-the-ultimate-then-there/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [“He was her reason for existence, She was his ultimate risk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/findinglostsouls/he-was-her-reason-for-existence-she-was-his-ultimate-risk/) [Findinglostsouls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/findinglostsouls/) > [To miss out on joy is to miss out on the reason for your existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/to-miss-out-on-joy-is-to-miss-out-on-the-reason-for-your-existence/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [While you are alive, you need a reason for your existence. Being unable to find one is like the same as being dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/while-you-are-alive-you-need-a-reason-for-your-existence-being-unable/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Purpose is the ultimate reason for your existence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-s-mashego/purpose-is-the-ultimate-reason-for-your-existence/) [D.S. Mashego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-s-mashego/) > [Curiosity has its own reason for existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/curiosity-has-its-own-reason-for-existence/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“Women are the reason of the existence of men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkosiyazi-shange/women-are-the-reason-of-the-existence-of-men/) [Nkosiyazi Shange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkosiyazi-shange/) > [Beside all the small reasons we assign, there is a great reason for the existence of every extant fact; a reason which lies grandand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/beside-all-the-small-reasons-we-assign-there-is-a-great-reason-for/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Despite the amount of suffering, pain, misery, sorrow and travail which can exist in life, the reason for existence is the same reason as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/despite-the-amount-of-suffering-pain-misery-sorrow-and-travail-which/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [It is possible to reason out the existence of God to a limited extent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-is-possible-to-reason-out-the-existence-of-god-to-a-limited-extent/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Friedrich Engels > [The ancient Greek philosophers were all natural-born dialecticians and Aristotle, the most encyclopaedic intellect among them, had even already analysed the most essential forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/the-ancient-greek-philosophers-were-all-natural-born-dialecticians/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [ I have learned more \[from Balzac\] than from all the professional historians, economists, and statisticians put together. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/i-have-learned-more-from-balzac-than-from-all-the-professional/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [All history has been a history of class struggles between dominated classes at various stages of social development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/all-history-has-been-a-history-of-class-struggles-between-dominated/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [“According to the materialist conception of history, the ultimately determining element in history is the production and reproduction of real life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/according-to-the-materialist-conception-of-history-the-ultimately/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [All that is real in human history becomes irrational in the process of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/all-that-is-real-in-human-history-becomes-irrational-in-the-process/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [The state is not abolished, it withers away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/the-state-is-not-abolished-it-withers-away/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [“History does nothing, it possesses no immense wealth, it wages no battles. It is man, real, living man who does all that, who possesses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/history-does-nothing-it-possesses-no-immense-wealth-it-wages-no/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [ ...it was always our view that in order to attain this \[proletarian revolution\] and the other far more important aims of the future social… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/it-was-always-our-view-that-in-order-to-attain-this-proletarian/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [Bare-faced covetousness was the moving spirit of civilization from its first dawn to the present day; wealth, and again wealth, and for the third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/bare-faced-covetousness-was-the-moving-spirit-of-civilization-from/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [In science, each new point of view calls forth a revolution in nomenclature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/in-science-each-new-point-of-view-calls-forth-a-revolution-in/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [“Thus, as far as he is a scientific man, as far as he knows anything, he is a materialist; outside his science, in spheres…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/thus-as-far-as-he-is-a-scientific-man-as-far-as-he-knows-anything-he/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [It is no longer a question anywhere of inventing interconnections from out of our brains, but of discovering them in the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/it-is-no-longer-a-question-anywhere-of-inventing-interconnections/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [Look at the Paris Commune. That was the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/look-at-the-paris-commune-that-was-the-dictatorship-of-the-proletariat/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [It is a curious fact that with every great revolutionary movement the question of 'free love' comes into the foreground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/it-is-a-curious-fact-that-with-every-great-revolutionary-movement-the/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [All history has been a history of class struggles, of struggles between exploited and exploiting, between dominated and dominating classes at various stages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/all-history-has-been-a-history-of-class-struggles-of-struggles/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) [Explore all 81 Friedrich Engels quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) ## More Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everything must justify its existence before the judgment seat of Reason, or give up existence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Engels" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/everything-must-justify-its-existence-before-the-judgment-seat-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/everything-must-justify-its-existence-before-the-judgment-seat-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/440/friedrich-engels-8301_existence_everything-must-justify-its-existence-be_2977671.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/440/friedrich-engels-8301_existence_everything-must-justify-its-existence-be_2977671.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/440/friedrich-engels-8301_existence_everything-must-justify-its-existence-be_2977671.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everything must justify its existence before the judgment seat of Reason, or give up existence.” — Friedrich Engels", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Friedrich Engels", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everything must justify its existence before...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/everything-must-justify-its-existence-before-the-judgment-seat-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/everything-must-justify-its-existence-before-the-judgment-seat-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```