Fryderyk Skarbek (1828), cited in: Karl Marx. Human Requirements and Division of Labour https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/needs.htm, Manuscript, 1844.
“For as soon as the distribution of labour comes into being, each man has a particular exclusive sphere of activity, which is forced upon him and from which he cannot escape. He is a hunter, a fisherman, a shepherd, or a critical critic and must remain so if he does not wish to lose his means of livelihood; while in communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, to fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have in mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.”
Source: The German Ideology (1845-1846), Vol. 1, Part 1.
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Karl Marx 290
German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist and … 1818–1883Related quotes
Source: 1960s–1970s, The Constitution of Liberty (1960), p. 79.
As quoted in Book Of Happiness, by Jagdish Gupta https://books.google.co.in/books?id=H7cwBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=Unlike+a+drop+of+water+which+loses+its+identity+when+it+joins+the+ocean,+man+does+not+lose+his+being+in+the+society+in+which+he+lives.+Man%27s+life+is+i&source=bl&ots=eVeEf_7dR3&sig=88DaiaoPeTdFtzRM73yLcZmasVg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEMQ6AEwB2oVChMIh7H05PiSyAIVRNSOCh2zIABs#v=onepage&q=Unlike%20a%20drop%20of%20water%20which%20loses%20its%20identity%20when%20it%20joins%20the%20ocean%2C%20man%20does%20not%20lose%20his%20being%20in%20the%20society%20in%20which%20he%20lives.%20Man%27s%20life%20is%20i&f=false
Variant: Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man's life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self.
“Poets, Critics, and Readers”, p. 109
No Other Book: Selected Essays (1999)
Source: The Doctrine of the Mean
Speech on Leadership in Speeches Delivered on Various Occasions, May 1957-December 1959 (1960), p. 138