I am nothing but I must be everything.
Karl MarxRead
The alienation of man thus appeared as the fundamental evil of capitalist society.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Marx identifies alienation as a key issue arising from capitalism, where individuals feel disconnected from their work, society, and themselves.
In this quote, Karl Marx asserts that the estrangement or alienation of individuals is a core problem in capitalist societies. He argues that capitalism leads to a disconnection between workers and the products of their labor, creating a sense of isolation and unfulfillment. This alienation not only affects the individual's relationship with their work but also their connection to society and one's own sense of self, ultimately highlighting the detrimental effects of an economic system focused on profit rather than human needs.
Themes
AlienationCapitalismSocietyDisconnectionWorkSelf
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be referenced in discussions about the impacts of capitalism on worker satisfaction at a labor conference.
More from Karl Marx
All quotes βReligion is the opiate of the people.
Karl MarxRead
It is absolutely impossible to transcend the laws of nature. What can change in historically different circumstances is only the form in which these laws expose themselves.
Karl MarxRead
Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.
Karl MarxRead
To be radical is to grasp things by the root.
Karl MarxRead
Men's ideas are the most direct emanations of their material state.
Karl MarxRead
Similar quotes
The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.
Carl JungRead
So: if you buy the notion that reality consists of the things in your freeze-frame mental image right now, and if you agree that your now is no more valid than the now of someone located far away in space who can move freely, then reality encompasses all of the events in spacetime.
Brian GreeneRead
I would like you to teach [the orcs] civilised behaviour," said Ladyship coldly. He appeared to consider this. "Yes of course, I think that would be quite possible," he said. "And who would you send to teach the humans?
Terry PratchettRead
My father was a man who didn't consider himself learned. He was a man who liked to be a farmer. He enjoyed his dairy farm and felt the calling. So there was a dedication. I was dedicated as a child to the service of God, and so there was this continual centering of a greater purpose than your own.
Phil JacksonRead
It is because you have the typical American habit of seeing everything as a test. You see the mountain as your enemy and you set out to defeat it. So, naturally, the mountain fights back and it is stronger than you are. We do not see the mountain as our enemy to be conquered. The purpose of our climb is to become one with the mountain and so it lifts us up and carries us along.
Harold S. KushnerRead
We must assist the British in the war as if there were no White Paper and we must resist the White Paper as if there were no war.
David Ben-GurionRead