--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It would perhaps be as well if things…" description: "\"It would perhaps be as well if things were to remain quiet for a few years yet, so that all this 1848 democracy has time to rot away.\" — Karl Marx" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/karl-marx-399_democracies-have_it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-we_2558358.jpg" --- # It would perhaps be as well if things were to remain quiet… ![“It would perhaps be as well if things were to remain quiet for a few years yet, so that all this 1848 democracy has time to rot away.” quote by Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/karl-marx-399_democracies-have_it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-we_2558358.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/karl-marx-399_democracies-have_it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-we_2558358.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/karl-marx-399_democracies-have_it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-we_2558358.jpg) > “It would perhaps be as well if things were to remain quiet for a few years yet, so that all this 1848 democracy has time to rot away.” [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Marx warns that premature democratic reforms may decay without deeper structural change. **In simple terms:** Democracy can rot without solid foundations. Key Takeaway Push for systemic change, not just superficial reforms. Themes politics reform revolution Mood cautious critical Type political theoretical When to use this quote - policy debates - social movements - legislative reforms Key Concepts Marxism historical materialism Questions to Reflect On - What structural changes are needed for lasting democracy? - How can we prevent reforms from stagnating? A Different Perspective Superficial changes may mask deeper issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Remain Quiet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remain-quiet/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I kept quiet for eight years. 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You will in due season have great impatience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/if-you-establish-a-democracy-you-must-in-due-time-reap-the-fruits-of/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [“We’ve been so afraid; so hell bent on destroying enemies; both foreign and domestic, we’ve hurt ourselves and our democracy. Time to wake up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziad-k-abdelnour/we-ve-been-so-afraid-so-hell-bent-on-destroying-enemies-both-foreign/) [Ziad K. Abdelnour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziad-k-abdelnour/) > [Democracy in our time is more likely to die of indifference than of intolerance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-lasch/democracy-in-our-time-is-more-likely-to-die-of-indifference-than-of/) [Christopher Lasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-lasch/) > [Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. 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They gain power when they speak out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristine-kathryn-rusch/reese-honey-victims-are-victims-when-they-remain-quiet-they-gain/) [Kristine Kathryn Rusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristine-kathryn-rusch/) > [“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/perhaps-the-greatest-charity-comes-when-we-are-kind-to-each-other/) [Marvin J. Ashton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [“Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for the Bible verses that teach me how important my words are. My words can cause me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-langohr/dear-heavenly-father-i-thank-you-for-the-bible-verses-that-teach-me/) [Glenn Langohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-langohr/) ## More by Karl Marx > [“Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/economists-have-a-singular-method-of-procedure-there-are-only-two/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [As the variable capital always stays in the hands of the capitalist in some form or other, it cannot be claimed in any way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-the-variable-capital-always-stays-in-the-hands-of-the-capitalist/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Money degrades all the gods of man and converts them into commodities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/money-degrades-all-the-gods-of-man-and-converts-them-into-commodities/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [As a beast of toil an ox is fixed capital. If he is eaten, he no longer functions as an instrument of labour, nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-a-beast-of-toil-an-ox-is-fixed-capital-if-he-is-eaten-he-no-longer/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Communism... is the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature and between man and man; it is the true resolution of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/communism-is-the-genuine-resolution-of-the-antagonism-between-man-and/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/it-is-not-the-consciousness-of-men-that-determines-their-being-but-on/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Philosophy is to the real world as masturbation is to sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/philosophy-is-to-the-real-world-as-masturbation-is-to-sex/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [“Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/go-on-get-out-last-words-are-for-fools-who-haven-t-said-enough/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [“If you love without evoking love in return - if through the vital expression of yourself as a loving person you fail to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/if-you-love-without-evoking-love-in-return-if-through-the-vital/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Do not be deluded by the abstract word Freedom. Whose freedom? Not the freedom of one individual in relation to another, but freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/do-not-be-deluded-by-the-abstract-word-freedom-whose-freedom-not-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The burgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all nations into civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-burgeoisie-by-the-rapid-improvement-of-all-instruments-of/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Ideas do not exist separately from language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/ideas-do-not-exist-separately-from-language/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [So in Jewry we recognise a contemporary universal anti-social phenomenon, which has reached its present pitch through a process of, historical development in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/so-in-jewry-we-recognise-a-contemporary-universal-anti-social/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-class-struggle-necessarily-leads-to-the-dictatorship-of-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [If this labourer were in possession of his own means of production, and was satisfied to live as a labourer, he need not work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/if-this-labourer-were-in-possession-of-his-own-means-of-production/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) [Explore all 571 Karl Marx quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) ## More Democracies have quotes > [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-strain-of-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [No democracy has ever long survived the failure of its adherents to be ready to die for it. My own conviction is this, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lloyd-george/no-democracy-has-ever-long-survived-the-failure-of-its-adherents-to/) [David Lloyd George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lloyd-george/) > [It is a law of governance that democracies have to spend themselves dizzy. Citizens of democracies can, after all, tell their government to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/it-is-a-law-of-governance-that-democracies-have-to-spend-themselves/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. 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No one pretends that democracy is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/many-forms-of-government-have-been-tried-and-will-be-tried-in-this/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Democracies have been, and governments called, free; but the spirit of independence and the consciousness of unalienable rights, were never before transfused into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-josepha-hale/democracies-have-been-and-governments-called-free-but-the-spirit-of/) [Sarah Josepha Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-josepha-hale/) > [For our democracy has been marred by imperialism, and it has been enlightened only by individual and sporadic efforts at freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-our-democracy-has-been-marred-by-imperialism-and-it-has-been/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terrorist-is-only-one-of-them/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/hence-it-is-that-such-democracies-have-ever-been-spectacles-of/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [In Cuba, our experiment is not the best democracy and should not be a reference to anybody elses, it is ours. It has worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-castro-espin/in-cuba-our-experiment-is-not-the-best-democracy-and-should-not-be-a/) [Alejandro Castro Espin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-castro-espin/) > [Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-fraser-tytler/democracy-cannot-exist-as-a-permanent-form-of-government-it-can-only/) [Alexander Fraser Tytler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-fraser-tytler/) > [Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/laws-provide-against-injury-from-others-but-not-from-ourselves/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [All deductions having been made, democracy has done less harm, and more good, than any other form of government. It gave to human existence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/all-deductions-having-been-made-democracy-has-done-less-harm-and-more/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) Browse all 123 Democracies have quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It would perhaps be as well if things were to remain quiet for a few years yet, so that all this 1848 democracy has time to rot away.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karl Marx" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-were-to-remain-quiet-for-a-few/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Democracies have" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-were-to-remain-quiet-for-a-few/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/karl-marx-399_democracies-have_it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-we_2558358.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/karl-marx-399_democracies-have_it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-we_2558358.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/karl-marx-399_democracies-have_it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-we_2558358.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It would perhaps be as well if things were to remain quiet for a few years yet, so that all this 1848…” — Karl Marx", "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": "Karl Marx", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It would perhaps be as well...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-were-to-remain-quiet-for-a-few/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/it-would-perhaps-be-as-well-if-things-were-to-remain-quiet-for-a-few/#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 } } ] } ```