The Triple Thinkers (1938) [Oxford University Press, 1948], Preface, p. ix
Works
Memoirs of Hecate County
Edmund Wilson
To the Finland Station
Edmund WilsonMemoirs of Hecate County
Edmund WilsonTo the Finland Station
Edmund WilsonEdmund Wilson: 6 quotes1 like
Famous Edmund Wilson Quotes
“Marxism is the opium of the intellectuals.”
Edmund Wilson book Memoirs of Hecate County
Memoirs of Hecate County (1946) [New York Review Books Classics, 2004], Ch. 5, p. 340
Karl Marx, in his Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right (1843-4), wrote "Religion…is the opium of the people" ("Die Religion…ist das Opium des Volkes"). Wilson was not the first writer to turn Marx’s statement on its head: Evelyn Waugh published a review of Harold Laski's Faith, Reason and Civilization in The Tablet, 22nd April 1944, under the headline "Marxism, the Opiate of the People".
In 1955 the French philosopher Raymond Aron wrote a book on Marxism called L'Opium des intellectuels. Hence Wilson's line is often attributed to him.
“It may be that there is nothing more demoralizing than a small but adequate income.”
Edmund Wilson book Memoirs of Hecate County
Memoirs of Hecate County (1946) [New York Review Books Classics, 2004], Ch. 4, p. 136
“Education, the last hope of the liberal in all periods.”
Edmund Wilson book To the Finland Station
To the Finland Station (1940) [Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1972, ISBN 1568495749/1145], Part I, Ch. 5: Michelet Between Nationalism and Socialism, p. 36
