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Karl Marx

Karl Marx Quotes

Philosopher

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Famous Karl Marx Quotes

“What the working man sells is not directly his Labor, but his Laboring Power, the temporary disposal of which he makes over to the capitalist. This is so much the case that I do not know whether by the English Law, but certainly by some Continental Laws, the maximum time is fixed for which a man is allowed to sell his laboring power. If allowed to do so for any indefinite period whatever, slavery would be immediately restored. Such a sale, if it comprised his lifetime, for example, would make him at once the lifelong slave of his employer.”

IfsKnowsMenWould BeLawWorkCasesExamplePeriodsLaborSlaverySellsSlaveLifetimeFixedTemporaryCapitalistMaximumEmployersLifelongWorking ManContinentalEnglish Law
Book:German socialist philosophy
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“[The career a young man should choose should be] one that is most consonant with our dignity, one that is based on ideas of whose truth we are wholly convinced, one that offers us largest scope in working for humanity and approaching that general goal towards which each profession offers only one of the means: the goal of perfection ... If he works only for himself he can become a famous scholar, a great sage, an excellent imaginative writer [ Dichter ], but never a perfected, a truly great man.”

IfsMenShouldMeanIdeasYoungHumanityGoalCareersOffersDignityPerfectionConvincedProfessionExcellentYoung ManGreat MenScholarSageScopeImaginativeConsonants
Author:Karl Marx
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“English law in 1572 decreed that beggars above 14 years of age are to be severely flogged and branded on the left ear unless some one will take them into service for two years; in case of a repetition of the offense, if they are over 18, they are to be executed, unless some one will take them into service for two years; but for the third offence they are to be executed without mercy as felons.”

IfsYearsTwoAgeLawLeftCasesMercyEarsThirdsTwo YearsOffenseRepetitionBeggarOffenceBrandedFelonsEnglish Law
Author:Karl Marx
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“If emancipation of the working classes requires their fraternal conncurrence, how are they to fulfill that great mission with a foreign policy in pursuit of criminal designs, playing upon national prejudices, and squandering in piratical wars the people's blood and treasure? It was not the wisdom of the ruling classes, but the heroic resistance to their criminal folly by the working classes of England, that saved the west of Europe from plunging headlong into an infamous crusade for the propagation of slavery on the other side of the Atlantic.”

PeopleIfsWarSidesClassBloodPolicyDesignEuropePrejudiceEnglandSlaveryWestMissionsCriminalsSavedPursuitTreasureResistanceFollyHeroicForeign PolicyWorking ClassRulingEmancipationCrusadesInfamousPropagationFraternalSquandering
Book:Karl Marx: Selected Writings
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“The French need a thrashing. If the Prussians win, the centralization of state power will be useful for the centralization of the German working class. German predominance would also transfer the center of gravity of the workers' movement in Western Europe from France to Germany, and one has only to compare the movement in the two countries from 1866 until now to see that the German working class is superior to the French both theoretically and organizationally.”

IfsWorldNeedsMeanTwoCountryStatesWinningClassStageMovementTheoryEuropeWesternWorkersSuperiorsFranceCompareGermanyEtcGravityWorking ClassCentreTransfersTwo CountriesWestern Europe
Author:Karl Marx
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“If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people.”

PeopleIfsJoyMillionsSacrificeMankindPositionTearsBenefitsHotDeedsBurdenNobleSelfishChosenBowsShedAshesPettyHot Tears
Book:German socialist philosophy
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