quotations about work
A man is seen in his works.
CLEMENT METEZEAU
attributed, Day's Collacon
It has become an article of the creed of modern morality that all labour is good in itself -- a convenient belief to those who live on the labour of others. But as to those on whom they live, I recommend them not to take it on trust, but to look into the matter a little deeper.
WILLIAM MORRIS
"Useful Work vs Useless Toil", Signs of Change: Seven Lectures, Delivered on Various Occasions
In my opinion it's a shame that there is so much work in the world. One of the saddest things is that the only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You can't eat eight hours a day nor drink for eight hours a day nor make love for eight hours -- all you can do for eight hours is work. Which is the reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and unhappy.
WILLIAM FAULKNER
The Paris Review, spring 1956
What is earned with hard labor is eaten with pleasure.
CHINESE PROVERB
If you want work well done, select a busy man ‚ the other kind has no time.
ELBERT HUBBARD
The Note Book
This is the gospel of labour, ring it, ye bells of the kirk!
The Lord of Love came down from above, to live with the men who work.
This is the rose that He planted, here in the thorn-curst soil:
Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but the blessing of Earth is toil.
HENRY VAN DYKE
"The Toiling of Felix"
The work praises the workman.
ROGER PAYNE
attributed, Day's Collacon
Work is the mechanism that drives production.
AL MILLER
"The transforming power of work", Jamaica Observer, April 2, 2017
Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
ANNE FRANK
The Diary of a Young Girl
It isn't the hours you put in your work that count, it's the work you put in the hours.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
Clearly the most unfortunate people are those who must do the same thing over and over again, every minute, or perhaps twenty to the minute. They deserve the shortest hours and the highest pay.
JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH
Made to Last
The truth is that as soon as we are no longer obliged to earn our living, we no longer know what to do with our life and recklessly squander it.
ANDRE GIDE
Journals
We think work is killing us. A new Mayo Clinic survey shows Americans blame work more than anything else for keeping them from better health.
JACQUELINE CUTLER
"Top five reasons Americans think work is killing us", Daily News, February 4, 2016
Going to work is the vacation.... I have so much respect for women who stay at home and take care of the children, 'cause I find it to be incredibly challenging and the harder job, make no mistake about it.
JUNE DIANE RAPHAEL
"June Diane Raphael Says Going to Work Is the Vacation", People, March 31, 2017
We are not people who believe only in the survival of the fittest. Work in America is more than a paycheck; it a source of pride, self-reliance and identity.
JOHN MCCAIN
speech, June 3, 2008
Man hath his daily work of body or mind
Appointed, which declares his dignity,
And the regard of Heav'n on all his ways;
While other animals unactive range,
And of their doings God takes no account.
JOHN MILTON
Paradise Lost
Immediate work, even poor, is worth more than dreams.
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE
My Heart Laid Bare
A person who has not done one half his day's work by ten o'clock, runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.
EMILY BRONTË
Wuthering Heights
If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a holiday to any patient who considered his work important.
BERTRAND RUSSELL
Autobiography
There's nothing but what's bearable as long as a man can work.... The square o' four is sixteen, and you must lengthen your lever in proportion to your weight, is as true when a man's miserable as when he's happy; and the best o' working is, it gives you a grip hold o' things outside your own lot.
GEORGE ELIOT
Adam Bede