--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Marx was led to hold that the workers…" description: "\"“Marx was led to hold that the workers cannot hope much from the improvement of a legal system which as everybody knows grants to rich and poor alike t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/karl-r-popper-13077_labour-day_marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-ca_3149189.jpg" --- # Marx was led to hold that the workers cannot hope much… ![“Marx was led to hold that the workers cannot hope much from the improvement of a legal system which as everybody knows grants to rich and poor alike the freedom of sleeping on park benches, and which threatens them alike with punishment for the attempt to live ‘without visible means of support’…” quote by Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/karl-r-popper-13077_labour-day_marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-ca_3149189.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/karl-r-popper-13077_labour-day_marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-ca_3149189.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/karl-r-popper-13077_labour-day_marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-ca_3149189.jpg) > ““Marx was led to hold that the workers cannot hope much from the improvement of a legal system which as everybody knows grants to rich and poor alike the freedom of sleeping on park benches, and which threatens them alike with punishment for the attempt to live ‘without visible means of support’. In this way Marx arrived at what may be termed (in Hegelian language) the distinction between formal and material freedom. Formal19 or legal freedom, although Marx does not rate it low, turns out to be quite insufficient for securing to us that freedom which he considered to be the aim of the historical development of mankind. What matters is real, i.e. economic or material, freedom. This can be achieved only by an equal emancipation from drudgery. For this emancipation, ‘the shortening of the labour day is the fundamental prerequisite’.”” [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Legal freedoms are insufficient; true liberty requires material economic freedom and reduced labor burdens. **In simple terms:** Legal rights aren’t enough; economic freedom matters. Key Takeaway Advocate for shorter workdays and economic equality. Themes freedom economics labor equality materialism Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy reform - union negotiations - personal budgeting - community organizing Key Concepts formal vs material freedom labor rights social justice Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance legal and material freedoms? - What steps can reduce labor exploitation? A Different Perspective Economic constraints may limit freedom despite legal rights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emancipation Shortening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emancipation-shortening-5646755/) [Freedom Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-marx-5646753/) [Labour day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labour-day/) [Legal system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legal-system/) [Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marx/) [Marx Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marx-does-3053149/) [Material Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/material-freedom-5646754/) [Rich and poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-and-poor/) [Termed Hegelian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/termed-hegelian-5646756/) ## Related quotes > [Mr. Marx does not believe in God, but he believes deeply in himself. His heart is filled not with love but with rancor. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/mr-marx-does-not-believe-in-god-but-he-believes-deeply-in-himself-his/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [The man who doesn't relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-man-who-doesn-t-relax-and-hoot-a-few-hoots-voluntarily-now-and/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [Workers of the world awaken. Break your chains, demand your rights. All the wealth you make is taken, by exploiting parasites. Shall you kneel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/workers-of-the-world-awaken-break-your-chains-demand-your-rights-all/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [“Studs Terkel was waiting for a number 146 bus alongside two well-groomed business types. "This was before the term yuppie was used," he explains.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-younge/studs-terkel-was-waiting-for-a-number-146-bus-alongside-two-well/) [Gary Younge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-younge/) > [Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior ofcapital, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/capital-is-only-the-fruit-of-labor-and-could-never-have-existed-if/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [He who labors diligently need never despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menander/he-who-labors-diligently-need-never-despair/) [Menander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menander/) > [No business which depends for existence on paying \*less than living wages\* to its workers has any right to continue in this country... By…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/no-business-which-depends-for-existence-on-paying-less-than-living/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/labor-is-the-superior-of-capital-and-deserves-much-the-higher/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; it is a positive good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/property-is-the-fruit-of-labor-property-is-desirable-it-is-a-positive/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [It is labour indeed that puts the difference on everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/it-is-labour-indeed-that-puts-the-difference-on-everything/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe, for felicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-mind-always-employed-is-always-happy-this-is-the-true-secret-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but the blessing of Earth is toil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-van-dyke/heaven-is-blest-with-perfect-rest-but-the-blessing-of-earth-is-toil/) [Henry Van Dyke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-van-dyke/) > [Thou, O God, dost sell us all good things at the price of labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/thou-o-god-dost-sell-us-all-good-things-at-the-price-of-labor/) [Leonardo Da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [“I'm perfectly discriminating,' he said with a devilish smile. 'How's that? No blondes after Labour Day?' 'I said I was discriminating, not an imbecile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-blake/i-m-perfectly-discriminating-he-said-with-a-devilish-smile-how-s-that/) [Ally Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-blake/) > [There is precious little hope to be got out of whatever keeps us industrious, but there is a chance for us whenever we cease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-m-tomlinson/there-is-precious-little-hope-to-be-got-out-of-whatever-keeps-us/) [H. M. Tomlinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-m-tomlinson/) ## More by Karl R. Popper > [“Most of us, it seems, have a strong inclination to accept the peculiarities of our social environment as if they were ‘natural’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/most-of-us-it-seems-have-a-strong-inclination-to-accept-the/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“The empirical basis of objective science has thus nothing ‘absolute’ about it.4 Science does not rest upon solid bedrock. The bold structure of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/the-empirical-basis-of-objective-science-has-thus-nothing-absolute/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“Should you ever intend to dull the wits of a young man and to incapacitate his brains for any kind of thought whatever, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/should-you-ever-intend-to-dull-the-wits-of-a-young-man-and-to/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“Historically, all ethics undoubtedly begin with religion; but I do not now deal with historical questions. I do not ask who was the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/historically-all-ethics-undoubtedly-begin-with-religion-but-i-do-not/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“Society and the individual are thus interdependent. The one owes its existence to the other. Society owes its existence to human nature, and especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/society-and-the-individual-are-thus-interdependent-the-one-owes-its/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“All political ideals, that of making the people happy is perhaps the most dangerous one. It leads invariably to the attempt to impose our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/all-political-ideals-that-of-making-the-people-happy-is-perhaps-the/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“There is only one further use of violence in political quarrels which I should consider justified. I mean the resistance, once democracy has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/there-is-only-one-further-use-of-violence-in-political-quarrels-which/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“The fascist appeal to ‘human nature’ is to our passions, to our collectivist mystical needs, to ‘man the unknown’. Adopting Hegel’s words just quoted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/the-fascist-appeal-to-human-nature-is-to-our-passions-to-our/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“Instead of the greatest happiness for the greatest number, one should demand, more modestly, the least amount of avoidable suffering for all; and further,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/instead-of-the-greatest-happiness-for-the-greatest-number-one-should/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“According to this conception, the ultimate causes of all social changes and political revolutions are not increasing insight into justice; they are to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/according-to-this-conception-the-ultimate-causes-of-all-social/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“(a) Nationalism, in the form of the historicist idea that the state is the incarnation of the Spirit (or now, of the Blood) of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/a-nationalism-in-the-form-of-the-historicist-idea-that-the-state-is/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“We all remember how many religious wars were fought for a religion of love and gentleness; how many bodies were burned alive with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/we-all-remember-how-many-religious-wars-were-fought-for-a-religion-of/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“What we should do, I suggest, is to give up the idea of ultimate sources of knowledge, and admit that all knowledge is human;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/what-we-should-do-i-suggest-is-to-give-up-the-idea-of-ultimate/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“What a monument of human smallness is this idea of the philosopher king. What a contrast between it and the simplicity of humaneness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/what-a-monument-of-human-smallness-is-this-idea-of-the-philosopher/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“History has no meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/history-has-no-meaning/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) [Explore all 52 Karl R. Popper quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) ## More Labour day quotes > [There is precious little hope to be got out of whatever keeps us industrious, but there is a chance for us whenever we cease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-m-tomlinson/there-is-precious-little-hope-to-be-got-out-of-whatever-keeps-us/) [H. M. Tomlinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-m-tomlinson/) > [“I'm perfectly discriminating,' he said with a devilish smile. 'How's that? No blondes after Labour Day?' 'I said I was discriminating, not an imbecile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-blake/i-m-perfectly-discriminating-he-said-with-a-devilish-smile-how-s-that/) [Ally Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-blake/) > [Thou, O God, dost sell us all good things at the price of labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/thou-o-god-dost-sell-us-all-good-things-at-the-price-of-labor/) [Leonardo Da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but the blessing of Earth is toil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-van-dyke/heaven-is-blest-with-perfect-rest-but-the-blessing-of-earth-is-toil/) [Henry Van Dyke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-van-dyke/) > [A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe, for felicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-mind-always-employed-is-always-happy-this-is-the-true-secret-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [It is labour indeed that puts the difference on everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/it-is-labour-indeed-that-puts-the-difference-on-everything/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; it is a positive good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/property-is-the-fruit-of-labor-property-is-desirable-it-is-a-positive/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/labor-is-the-superior-of-capital-and-deserves-much-the-higher/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [No business which depends for existence on paying \*less than living wages\* to its workers has any right to continue in this country... By…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/no-business-which-depends-for-existence-on-paying-less-than-living/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [He who labors diligently need never despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menander/he-who-labors-diligently-need-never-despair/) [Menander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menander/) > [Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior ofcapital, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/capital-is-only-the-fruit-of-labor-and-could-never-have-existed-if/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“Studs Terkel was waiting for a number 146 bus alongside two well-groomed business types. "This was before the term yuppie was used," he explains.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-younge/studs-terkel-was-waiting-for-a-number-146-bus-alongside-two-well/) [Gary Younge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-younge/) > [Workers of the world awaken. Break your chains, demand your rights. All the wealth you make is taken, by exploiting parasites. Shall you kneel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/workers-of-the-world-awaken-break-your-chains-demand-your-rights-all/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [The man who doesn't relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-man-who-doesn-t-relax-and-hoot-a-few-hoots-voluntarily-now-and/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The only liberty an inferior man really cherishes is the liberty to quit work, stretch out in the sun, and scratch himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-only-liberty-an-inferior-man-really-cherishes-is-the-liberty-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Browse all 22 Labour day quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labour-day/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Marx was led to hold that the workers cannot hope much from the improvement of a legal system which as everybody knows grants to rich and poor alike the freedom of sleeping on park benches, and which threatens them alike with punishment for the attempt to live ‘without visible means of support’. In this way Marx arrived at what may be termed (in Hegelian language) the distinction between formal and material freedom. Formal19 or legal freedom, although Marx does not rate it low, turns out to be quite insufficient for securing to us that freedom which he considered to be the aim of the historical development of mankind. What matters is real, i.e. economic or material, freedom. This can be achieved only by an equal emancipation from drudgery. For this emancipation, ‘the shortening of the labour day is the fundamental prerequisite’.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karl R. Popper" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-cannot-hope-much-from-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Labour day" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-cannot-hope-much-from-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/karl-r-popper-13077_labour-day_marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-ca_3149189.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/karl-r-popper-13077_labour-day_marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-ca_3149189.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/karl-r-popper-13077_labour-day_marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-ca_3149189.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Marx was led to hold that the workers cannot hope much from the improvement of a legal system which as…” — Karl R. Popper", "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 R. Popper", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Marx was led to hold that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-cannot-hope-much-from-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/marx-was-led-to-hold-that-the-workers-cannot-hope-much-from-the/#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 } } ] } ```