How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph) or (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
When we leave this sphere of simple circulation or the exchange of commodities, which provides the 'free-trader vulgaris' with his views, his concepts and the standard by which he judges the society of capital and wage-labour, a certain change takes place, or so it appears, in the physiognomy of our dramatis personae. He who was previously the money-owner now strides out in front as a capitalist; the possessor of labour-power follows as his worker. The one smirks self-importantly and is intent on business; the other is timid and holds back, like someone who has brought his own hide to market and now has nothing else to expect but—a tanning. (6.23)
Because members of the capitalist class control the means of production, they can afford to smirk, in Marx's depiction. And the working class is left with no choice but to sell its labor-power. That means they're ripe to be abused, since they're selling their own hides, at least for the duration of the working day.
Quote #5
The capitalist maintains his rights as a purchaser when he tries to make the working day as long as possible, and, where possible, to make two working days out of one. On the other hand, the peculiar nature of the commodity sold implies a limit to its consumption by the purchaser, and the worker maintains his right as a seller when he wishes to reduce the working day to a particular normal length. There is here therefore an antinomy, of right against right, both equally bearing the seal of the law of exchange. Between equal rights, force decides. Hence, in the history of capitalist production, the establishment of a norm for the working day presents itself a a struggle over the limits of that day, a struggle between collective capital, i.e. the class of capitalists, and collective labour, i.e. the working class. (10.1.8)
According to what Marx would call bourgeois economics—the theories that unapologetically promote capitalism—the capitalist class and the working class are on equal footing when it comes to making contracts for the sale and purchase of labor-power. But Marx believes it's force—whoever is stronger—that decides which class actually gets the upper hand in these contracts. The capitalist class is strong in that they own the means of production and therefore control the means of sustenance that keep people alive. On the other hand, there are many more workers, so the working class has strength in numbers.
Quote #6
These 'small thefts' of capital from the workers' meal-times and recreation times are also described by the factory inspectors as 'petty pilferings of minutes', 'snatching a few minutes' or, in the technical language of the workers, 'nibbling and cribbling at meal-times'. (10.2.14)
A central focus of class struggle is the fight over the length of the working day. In chapter 10, Marx paints a vivid picture of capitalists trying to seize time away from workers' meal times and breaks. Are you given the full time off you're supposed to have at work or school? How might the working class fight for more time off?