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The legitimate purpose of abstraction in social science is never to get away from the real world but rather to isolate certain aspects of the real world for intensive investigation.

— Paul Sweezy The Theory of Capitalist Development (1942)

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More quotes by Paul Sweezy

Capitalist society is characterized by a degree of labor mobility much greater than prevailed in any previous form of society.

The Theory of Capitalist Development (1942)

Discussions of methodology in economics, as in other fields, are likely to be tiresome and unrewarding. Nevertheless, to avoid the problem altogether is to risk serious misunderstanding.

The Theory of Capitalist Development (1942)

Turning from political economy in a narrow sense, it is apparent that the commodity-producing form constitutes the most effective possible veil over the true class character of capitalist society.

The Theory of Capitalist Development (1942)

Society is more than a number of individuals. It is a number of individuals among whom certain definite and more or less stable relations exist.

The Theory of Capitalist Development (1942)

It is essential to realize that it was this analysis of the social characteristics of commodity production, and not an arbitrary preconception or an ethical principle, which led Marx to identify labor as the substance of value.

The Theory of Capitalist Development (1942)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Paul Sweezy (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.