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
We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness. We are monkeys with money and guns.
Tom WaitsRead
but their eyes were as cold blue glass buttons.
Ayn RandRead
To the solid ground Of nature trusts the Mind that builds for aye.
William WordsworthRead
I hope I never get so old I get religious.
Ingmar BergmanRead
...while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
It is a sad fate for a man to die too well known to everybody else, and still unknown to himself.
Francis BaconRead