quotations about work
A man is seen in his works.
CLEMENT METEZEAU
attributed, Day's Collacon
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
The work praises the workman.
ROGER PAYNE
attributed, Day's Collacon
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
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
If you want work well done, select a busy man ‚ the other kind has no time.
ELBERT HUBBARD
The Note Book
Work is the mechanism that drives production.
AL MILLER
"The transforming power of work", Jamaica Observer, April 2, 2017
No man will labor for himself who can make another labor for him.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Notes on Virginia
I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.
JEROME K. JEROME
Three Men in a Boat
The idea that to make a man work you've got to hold gold in front of his eyes is a growth, not an axiom. We've done that for so long that we've forgotten there's any other way.
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
This Side of Paradise
Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
ANNE FRANK
The Diary of a Young Girl
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"
What is earned with hard labor is eaten with pleasure.
CHINESE PROVERB
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
Work is for people who don't know how to fish.
ANONYMOUS
The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.
ELBERT HUBBARD
The American Bible
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
The worker puts his life into the object; but now it no longer belongs to him, it belongs to the object.
KARL MARX
"Alienated Labor", Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts
As technology advances and employees demand greater flexibility and mobility, the word "work" will continue to take on new and different meanings. Ultimately, though, from the perspective of employers, the goal will stay the same: to bring people, content and technology together in a single, unified content-experience platform that promotes effective team collaboration and improves business performance.
PAIGE O'NEILL
"The definition of work is shifting", Network World, March 13, 2017