In the vast library of philosophy and political thought, Karl Marx stands as one of the most influential figures. His original works, rich with profound insights into social and economic systems, continue to resonate with readers today. This article aims to translate some of the most经典 quotes from Marx’s original works into English, offering a glimpse into the wisdom contained within his seminal texts.
The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
1. The Fetishism of Commodities
” commodities are like magic amulets that turn human labor into a strange, autonomous power, set in opposition to the producer.”
2. Alienation
“The worker produces something external, alien to himself, which he does not belong to, in which, therefore, he has no real existence. He produces his own non-existence.”
The Communist Manifesto
3. The Historic Mission of the Proletariat
“The communists are, therefore, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others.”
4. The Dictatorship of the Proletariat
“The working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes.”
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy
5. The Accumulation of Capital
“The accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time the accumulation of misery, ignorance, and brutality at the other.”
6. The Transformation of Surplus Value into Profit
“The general formula for capital is therefore: M-C-M’. Starting from this, the movement of the industrial capitalist’s capital, G-G’, assumes the form of a process whose purpose is to bring about an exchange, but not as the act of a buyer and seller, as an act of circulation, but as the act of a producer, as the act of a capitalist.”
The German Ideology
7. Materialist Conception of History
“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.”
8. Critique of the Philosophers
“All that the philosophers have hitherto contributed is knowledge of the world; the point is to change it.”
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
9. The State as a Tool of Class Domination
“The state is, not the abstract reality of society, but the embodiment of one class’s supremacy over another, by means of its political power.”
10. The Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie
“The democratic representatives are nothing but the responsible face of the nation as an employer, nobody but state officials and employees.”
Through these translated quotes, we gain a glimpse into the revolutionary ideas that Marx presented throughout his career. His insights into class struggle, economics, and political theory continue to shape the world in which we live today.