Reflections of a Young Man on the Choice of a Profession

A composition in German by Marx. It was written in the fall of 1835 during his secondary school graduation exams. It was firstly published in the Archiv für die Geschichte des Sozialismus und der Arbeiterbewegung, 1925, 11th Year, Leipzig in the original Latin. At the time, Marx, who was about to graduate from secondary school, was faced with the question of career choice and thoughts about his own future. The young Marx, who was deeply imbued and influenced by German Enlightenment thought and classical humanitarianism, did not reflect on which concrete profession to choose when it came to the choice of a profession. He raised his reflection on this question to social awareness and attitude towards future life, and elaborated his own reflections on the choice of a profession.

In Reflections of a Young Man on the Choice of a Profession, in the first place, Marx dealt with the importance of the choice of a profession, emphasized that the choice of a profession is a major issue related to the purpose of life and path of life of a person, and emphasized that “serious consideration of this choice, therefore, is certainly the first duty of a young man who is beginning his career and does not want to leave his most important affairs to chance.” But at the same time, he held that the choice of a profession is not destined to be a simple matter, because under the revelation of the Deity and one’s heart, everyone might have a great aim in view, but as time goes by, what we ardently embraced might soon repel us. This made the choice of a profession not depend solely on one’s hopes and aspirations, but must also take into account multiple factors, including one’s personal preferences, one's physical condition, and one’s talents. Therefore, choosing a career should not be dictated by passing interests, petty passions and personal ambitions. On the basis of these analyses, Marx put forward the basic principle that he recognized should be adhered to when choosing a profession, i.e., one should seek the welfare of mankind and own perfection. In his view, only in this way can one attain true happiness and become a great and ideal figure whom all strive to copy. At the end of the article, Marx pointed out, “If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people”, a declaration of his own life pursuit and choice of profession.

Reflections of a Young Man on the Choice of a Profession is the point of departure of Marx’s intellectual development, which reflects Marx’s mental face in his secondary school years, showing that the young Marx had already established the lofty ideal of serving all mankind, and that even in his later long revolutionary career and in the face of all kinds of great pressure, Marx always adhered unswervingly to the vows and ideals of his secondary school days.