--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Parrots are the opium of the people" description: "\"Parrots are the opium of the people\" — Karl Marx" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/karl-marx-399_bird_parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people-5726_572657.jpg" --- # Parrots are the opium of the people ![“Parrots are the opium of the people” quote by Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/karl-marx-399_bird_parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people-5726_572657.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/karl-marx-399_bird_parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people-5726_572657.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/karl-marx-399_bird_parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people-5726_572657.jpg) > “Parrots are the opium of the people” [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. Critiques how popular distractions can numb critical thought and social awareness. **In simple terms:** Distractions dull awareness. Key Takeaway Beware of entertainment that numbs consciousness. Themes politics media critical thinking Mood cynical reflective Type political critical When to use this quote - political rallies - social media consumption - public discourse Key Concepts alienation ideology mass media Questions to Reflect On - What distractions prevent you from seeing societal problems? - How can you stay critically aware? A Different Perspective May overlook genuine issues while focusing on trivialities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Opium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opium/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Religion is the opium of the people translated from the German Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkessometimes misquoted as opiate of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/religion-is-the-opium-of-the-people-translated-from-the-german-die/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of soul-less conditions. It is the opium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/religion-is-the-sign-of-the-oppressed-creature-the-sentiment-of-a/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [It is not religion but revolution which is the opium of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/it-is-not-religion-but-revolution-which-is-the-opium-of-the-people/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [The real "opium of the people", distracting men's minds from their essential task, is the communist myth of an earthly paradise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-danielou/the-real-opium-of-the-people-distracting-men-s-minds-from-their/) Jean Danielou > [“THE GAMBLER,THE NUN & THE RADIO Yes, and music is the opium of the people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-gambler-the-nun-the-radio-yes-and-music-is-the-opium-of-the-people/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [The film drama is the opium of the people…down with bourgeois fairy-tale scenarios…long live life as it is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dziga-vertov/the-film-drama-is-the-opium-of-the-people-down-with-bourgeois-fairy/) [Dziga Vertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dziga-vertov/) > [Religion used to be the opium of the people. To those suffering humiliation, pain, illness, and serfdom, religion promised the reward of an after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/religion-used-to-be-the-opium-of-the-people-to-those-suffering/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [History, having destroyed the religion as the opium of the people, now requires that they be given a taste of the real stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/history-having-destroyed-the-religion-as-the-opium-of-the-people-now/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [Optimism is the opium of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/optimism-is-the-opium-of-the-people/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“Religion is the opium of the people!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fante/religion-is-the-opium-of-the-people/) [John Fante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fante/) > [A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death - the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/czeslaw-milosz/a-true-opium-of-the-people-is-a-belief-in-nothingness-after-death-the/) [Czeslaw Milosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/czeslaw-milosz/) > [“I know well enough that one of those leaders of what they call the Social Revolution said that religion is the opium of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/i-know-well-enough-that-one-of-those-leaders-of-what-they-call-the/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [Attention is the opium of the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ross/attention-is-the-opium-of-the-people/) [Fred Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ross/) > [In Russia religion is the opium of the people; in China opium is the religion of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-snow/in-russia-religion-is-the-opium-of-the-people-in-china-opium-is-the/) [Edgar Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-snow/) > [A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/czeslaw-milosz/a-true-opium-of-the-people-is-a-belief-in-nothingness-after-death/) [Czeslaw Milosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/czeslaw-milosz/) ## 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? 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But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Parrots are the opium of the people", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karl Marx" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/karl-marx-399_bird_parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people-5726_572657.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/karl-marx-399_bird_parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people-5726_572657.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/karl-marx-399_bird_parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people-5726_572657.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Parrots are the opium of the people” — 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": "Parrots are the opium of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/parrots-are-the-opium-of-the-people/#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 } } ] } ```