--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Marxism is the opium of the Marxists." description: "\"Marxism is the opium of the Marxists.\" — Joan Robinson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a22/joan-robinson-11438_economy_marxism-is-the-opium-of-the-marxists-758_75819.png" --- # Marxism is the opium of the Marxists. ![“Marxism is the opium of the Marxists.” quote by Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a22/joan-robinson-11438_economy_marxism-is-the-opium-of-the-marxists-758_75819.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a22/joan-robinson-11438_economy_marxism-is-the-opium-of-the-marxists-758_75819.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a22/joan-robinson-11438_economy_marxism-is-the-opium-of-the-marxists-758_75819.png) > “Marxism is the opium of the Marxists.” [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique that Marxist ideology can serve as a comforting illusion, dulling critical awareness of material conditions. **In simple terms:** Ideology as comforting illusion Key Takeaway Beware of self‑serving doctrine Themes political theory critical thinking ideology marxism psychology Mood skeptical reflective Type aphorism political quote When to use this quote - academic debate - political activism - media analysis Key Concepts false consciousness materialism dogma Practical Applications - teaching critical theory - evaluating political rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - Does the belief system you follow hinder your perception of reality? - How can one distinguish comforting narratives from useful analysis? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Marxism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/) [Marxist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxist/) [Marxists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxists/) [Opium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opium/) ## Related quotes > [Marxism is the opium of the intellectuals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-wilson/marxism-is-the-opium-of-the-intellectuals/) [Edmund Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-wilson/) > [“Marx’s Manifesto, pub­lished in 1847, reflects the state of historical science of the period. It fixes the thirteenth century as the beginning of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-gine-pernoud/marx-s-manifesto-pub-lished-in-1847-reflects-the-state-of-historical/) Régine Pernoud > [There are people, of course, who profess to be libertarian Marxists. I believe they mean very well, and I even write in their periodicals;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/there-are-people-of-course-who-profess-to-be-libertarian-marxists-i/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [The Soviet Union tried for 70 years to plant Marxism with bayonets in Eastern Europe. Today there are more Marxists on the Harvard faculty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-soviet-union-tried-for-70-years-to-plant-marxism-with-bayonets-in/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [Unity is a great thing and a great slogan. But what the workers’ cause needs is the unity of Marxists, not unity between Marxists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/unity-is-a-great-thing-and-a-great-slogan-but-what-the-workers-cause/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [To be a Marxist does not mean that one becomes a Communist party member. There are as many varieties of Marxists as there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-foster-snow/to-be-a-marxist-does-not-mean-that-one-becomes-a-communist-party/) [Helen Foster Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-foster-snow/) > [Marxists make it an objective to control education, that's how they control minds, countries, populations. We conservatives don't like to control anybody, we're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/marxists-make-it-an-objective-to-control-education-that-s-how-they/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [ The one consistent policy running through this \[Clinton\] administration is the love it has lavished on Marxists -- food aid for North Korea, diplomatic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-feder/the-one-consistent-policy-running-through-this-clinton-administration/) [Don Feder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-feder/) > [To persuade thinking persons in Eastern Europe that Central American Marxists - the Sandinistas, the guerillas in El Salvador - are in absurd and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/to-persuade-thinking-persons-in-eastern-europe-that-central-american/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [Obama is ratcheting up his class warfare to levels that would make Marxists blush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-limbaugh/obama-is-ratcheting-up-his-class-warfare-to-levels-that-would-make/) [David Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-limbaugh/) > [Marxists get up early to further their cause. We must get up even earlier to defend our freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/marxists-get-up-early-to-further-their-cause-we-must-get-up-even/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [“Marxists want nothing more than to stop being Marxists. In this respect, being a Marxist is nothing like being a Buddhist or a billionaire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/marxists-want-nothing-more-than-to-stop-being-marxists-in-this/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [All the political parties alike have their origins in past ideas and not in new ideas and none more conspicuously so than the Marxists .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/all-the-political-parties-alike-have-their-origins-in-past-ideas-and/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [When I die Bookchinism comes to an end, and all the allusions to it both among Marxists and anarchists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/when-i-die-bookchinism-comes-to-an-end-and-all-the-allusions-to-it/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [Cults and prophets proclaiming the imminent end of the world have been with us for several millennia, and it has been another sour sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/cults-and-prophets-proclaiming-the-imminent-end-of-the-world-have/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) ## More by Joan Robinson > [ The very nature of economics is rooted in nationalism. ... It \[was\] developed ... in the hope of throwing light upon questions of policy.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/the-very-nature-of-economics-is-rooted-in-nationalism-it-was/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Unequal distribution of income is an excessively uneconomic method of getting the necessary saving done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/unequal-distribution-of-income-is-an-excessively-uneconomic-method-of/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [we make a great fuss about national conscience, but it consists mainly in insisting upon everyone ascribing our national policy to highly moral motives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/we-make-a-great-fuss-about-national-conscience-but-it-consists-mainly/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Marx, however imperfectly he worked out the details, set himself the task of discovering the law of motion of capitalism, and if there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/marx-however-imperfectly-he-worked-out-the-details-set-himself-the/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Economic theorists should not make such a production about taking a rabbit out of a hat after having put the rabbit into the hat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/economic-theorists-should-not-make-such-a-production-about-taking-a/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [science progresses by trial and error, and when it is forbidden to admit error there can be no progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/science-progresses-by-trial-and-error-and-when-it-is-forbidden-to/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [The orthodox doctrines of economics which were dominant in the last quarter of the nineteenth century had a clear message. They supported laisser faire,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/the-orthodox-doctrines-of-economics-which-were-dominant-in-the-last/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [It's a terrible thing to be a worker exploited in the capitalist system. The only worse thing is to be a worker unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/it-s-a-terrible-thing-to-be-a-worker-exploited-in-the-capitalist/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Not only subjective poverty is never overcome by growth, but absolute poverty is increased by it. ... Absolute misery grows while wealth increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/not-only-subjective-poverty-is-never-overcome-by-growth-but-absolute/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Reality is never a golden age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/reality-is-never-a-golden-age/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [“After the war, when the problem of deficient effective demand seemed to have faded into the background, a fresh question came to the fore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/after-the-war-when-the-problem-of-deficient-effective-demand-seemed/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [In all the talk in the Principles (as opposed to the formal analysis) it is not the saving of rentiers but the energy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/in-all-the-talk-in-the-principles-as-opposed-to-the-formal-analysis/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [I do not regard the Keynesian revolution as a great intellectual triumph. On the contrary, it was a tragedy because it came so late.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/i-do-not-regard-the-keynesian-revolution-as-a-great-intellectual/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/the-purpose-of-studying-economics-is-not-to-acquire-a-set-of-ready/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [“The analysis of the /General Theory /shows that inflation is a real, not a monetary, phenomenon. 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Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/) [Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [A strong, durable Puerto Rican economy will leave the island better prepared to handle future natural disasters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-campos-duffy/a-strong-durable-puerto-rican-economy-will-leave-the-island-better/) [Rachel Campos-Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-campos-duffy/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [There is no precedent of an advanced economy withdrawing from a trade agreement as deep and as complex as the European Union.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-johnson/there-is-no-precedent-of-an-advanced-economy-withdrawing-from-a-trade/) [Jo Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-johnson/) > [Politics is about power. 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Yet because of their size, they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-lipinski/small-businesses-are-the-backbone-of-the-american-economy-and-employ/) [Dan Lipinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-lipinski/) > [At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/at-times-of-recession-running-a-budget-deficit-is-highly-desirable/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [However, however, if the goal is to abandon America's free enterprise economy, if the goal is to convert America into a submissive member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/however-however-if-the-goal-is-to-abandon-america-s-free-enterprise/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [America is stronger than Russia. 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