--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is impossible for capitalists and…" description: "\"It is impossible for capitalists and laborers to have common interests.\" — Samuel Gompers" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42b/samuel-gompers-16712_capitalist_it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-lab_3035199.jpg" --- # It is impossible for capitalists and laborers to have… ![“It is impossible for capitalists and laborers to have common interests.” quote by Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42b/samuel-gompers-16712_capitalist_it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-lab_3035199.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42b/samuel-gompers-16712_capitalist_it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-lab_3035199.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42b/samuel-gompers-16712_capitalist_it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-lab_3035199.jpg) > “It is impossible for capitalists and laborers to have common interests.” [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Capitalists and workers have fundamentally opposing interests, making common ground unlikely. **In simple terms:** Capitalists and laborers have conflicting interests. Key Takeaway Seek realistic labor‑capital negotiations. Themes labor relations economics conflict Mood critical historical Type political inspirational When to use this quote - union organizing - policy reform - economic analysis Key Concepts class struggle collective bargaining Questions to Reflect On - What policies could align interests? - Can mutual benefit exist? A Different Perspective Collaboration can occur under certain conditions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capitalists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalists/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Laborers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laborers/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) ## Related quotes > [The whole fabric of society will go to wrack if we really lay hands of reform on our rotten institutions. From top to bottom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-whole-fabric-of-society-will-go-to-wrack-if-we-really-lay-hands/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [By bourgeoisie is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labor. 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Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/that-which-is-common-to-the-greatest-number-has-the-least-care/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-true-forms-of-government-therefore-are-those-in-which-the-one-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More by Samuel Gompers > [What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/what-does-labor-want-we-want-more-schoolhouses-and-less-jails-more/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/there-is-not-a-right-too-long-denied-to-which-we-do-not-aspire-in/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [Our mission has been the protection of the wage-worker, now; to increase his wages; to cut hours off the long workday, which was killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/our-mission-has-been-the-protection-of-the-wage-worker-now-to/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [There may be here and there a worker who for certain reasons unexplainable to us does not join a union of labor. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/there-may-be-here-and-there-a-worker-who-for-certain-reasons/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [Time is the most valuable thing on earth: time to think, time to act, time to extend our fraternal relations, time to become better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/time-is-the-most-valuable-thing-on-earth-time-to-think-time-to-act/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [No lasting gain has ever come from compulsion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/no-lasting-gain-has-ever-come-from-compulsion/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [To be free, the workers must have choice. 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That is that when compulsion is used, only resentment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/one-fact-stands-out-in-bold-relief-in-the-history-of-man-s-attempts/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [The labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/the-labor-of-a-human-being-is-not-a-commodity-or-article-of-commerce/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) [Explore all 39 Samuel Gompers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) ## More Capitalist quotes > [The popular mind often pictures gigantic flying machines speeding across the Atlantic carrying innumerable passengers in a way analogous to our modern steam ships.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-pickering/the-popular-mind-often-pictures-gigantic-flying-machines-speeding/) William Henry Pickering > [As the variable capital always stays in the hands of the capitalist in some form or other, it cannot be claimed in any way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-the-variable-capital-always-stays-in-the-hands-of-the-capitalist/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Capitalists have done more good for society through their charitable giving, philanthropy and generosity than all their critics combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/capitalists-have-done-more-good-for-society-through-their-charitable/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [When I was young, I worked for a capitalist twelve hours a day and I was always tired. 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Obviously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/will-capitalist-economies-operate-at-full-employment-in-the-absence/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [Capitalism has created a situation called scarcity. And that scarcity is not natural, it's socially induced. Along with that sense of scarcity, or feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/capitalism-has-created-a-situation-called-scarcity-and-that-scarcity/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [... what we should be looking for is fresh ideas of how we make moral decisions about our dealings with one another, economic, social,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davis-mccaughey/what-we-should-be-looking-for-is-fresh-ideas-of-how-we-make-moral/) Davis McCaughey > [When you come from a family of communists and you go through your teenage rebellion, what's the best way of rebelling from a family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-browder/when-you-come-from-a-family-of-communists-and-you-go-through-your/) [Bill Browder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-browder/) > [The Enron scandal calls into question the integrity of the entire capitalist system, which previously we assumed was based on honest, straightforward greed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-achenbach/the-enron-scandal-calls-into-question-the-integrity-of-the-entire/) [Joel Achenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-achenbach/) > [Human beings were behaving as human beings and not as cogs in the capitalist machine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/human-beings-were-behaving-as-human-beings-and-not-as-cogs-in-the/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Beautiful women must think about their beauty as capitalists think about their investments or politicians about their majorities; it is all they have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beautiful-women-must-think-about-their-beauty-as-capitalists-think/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) Browse all 968 Capitalist quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is impossible for capitalists and laborers to have common interests.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Gompers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-laborers-to-have-common-interests/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Capitalist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-laborers-to-have-common-interests/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42b/samuel-gompers-16712_capitalist_it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-lab_3035199.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42b/samuel-gompers-16712_capitalist_it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-lab_3035199.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42b/samuel-gompers-16712_capitalist_it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-lab_3035199.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is impossible for capitalists and laborers to have common interests.” — Samuel Gompers", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Samuel Gompers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is impossible for capitalists and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-laborers-to-have-common-interests/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/it-is-impossible-for-capitalists-and-laborers-to-have-common-interests/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```