Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·236 of 348
"Religion is the opiate of the masses."
They never said that.
What people say
"Religion is the opiate of the masses."
What was actually said
"Religion ... is the opium of the people." Karl Marx — Introduction to Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right (1843) by Karl Marx
Why it stuck
Marx's German is "Opium des Volkes." "Opiate of the masses" is a cold-war compression of the passage.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.