--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The writer may very well serve a movement…" description: "\"The writer may very well serve a movement of history as its mouthpiece, but he cannot of course create it.\" — Karl Marx" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/karl-marx-399_history_the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movemen_610603.jpg" --- # The writer may very well serve a movement of history as… ![“The writer may very well serve a movement of history as its mouthpiece, but he cannot of course create it.” quote by Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/karl-marx-399_history_the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movemen_610603.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/karl-marx-399_history_the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movemen_610603.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/karl-marx-399_history_the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movemen_610603.jpg) > “The writer may very well serve a movement of history as its mouthpiece, but he cannot of course create it.” [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. The writer can describe and promote a historical movement but cannot originate the movement itself. **In simple terms:** Writers explain movements but don’t create them. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of your influence. Themes history media agency responsibility Mood reflective critical Type analytical observational When to use this quote - journalism - political activism - academic research - public speaking Key Concepts social theory propaganda authorial role Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance reporting with influencing? - When does advocacy become creation? A Different Perspective Writers may unintentionally shape perception, blurring description and creation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Any social movement throughout history has always been carried out by only 7% of population being passionately active in that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-watson/any-social-movement-throughout-history-has-always-been-carried-out-by/) [Paul Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-watson/) > [The history of a movement, the history of a nation, the history of a race is the guide-post of that movement's destiny, that nation's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-garvey/the-history-of-a-movement-the-history-of-a-nation-the-history-of-a/) [Marcus Garvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-garvey/) > [Any movement in history which attempts to perpetuate itself, becomes reactionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josip-broz-tito/any-movement-in-history-which-attempts-to-perpetuate-itself-becomes/) [Josip Broz Tito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josip-broz-tito/) > [Every great movement in the history of Western civilization from the Carolingian age to the nineteenth century has been an international movement which owed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dawson/every-great-movement-in-the-history-of-western-civilization-from-the/) [Christopher Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dawson/) > [The real movement of history, it turns out, is fueled not by matter but by spirit, by the will to freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-himmelfarb/the-real-movement-of-history-it-turns-out-is-fueled-not-by-matter-but/) [Gertrude Himmelfarb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-himmelfarb/) > [Every progressive movement in U.S. history has been portrayed negatively by the media at the time it happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boots-riley/every-progressive-movement-in-u-s-history-has-been-portrayed/) [Boots Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boots-riley/) > [The Underground Railroad, which was the first integrated civil rights movement, is a part of our history that not a lot of us know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurnee-smollett-bell/the-underground-railroad-which-was-the-first-integrated-civil-rights/) [Jurnee Smollett-Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurnee-smollett-bell/) > [“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/) > [In the 60s there were a lot of things which were anarchistic. 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A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) ## 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 History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. 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It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) C-DASH > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The writer may very well serve a movement of history as its mouthpiece, but he cannot of course create it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karl Marx" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movement-of-history-as-its/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movement-of-history-as-its/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/karl-marx-399_history_the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movemen_610603.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/karl-marx-399_history_the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movemen_610603.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/karl-marx-399_history_the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movemen_610603.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The writer may very well serve a movement of history as its mouthpiece, but he cannot of course create it.” — 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": "The writer may very well serve...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movement-of-history-as-its/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-writer-may-very-well-serve-a-movement-of-history-as-its/#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 } } ] } ```