quotations about work
The work praises the workman.
ROGER PAYNE
attributed, Day's Collacon
The first assignment that God gave to man was work. God gave man work before He gave man a wife.
AL MILLER
"The transforming power of work", Jamaica Observer, April 2, 2017
A man is seen in his works.
CLEMENT METEZEAU
attributed, Day's Collacon
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"
Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
ANNE FRANK
The Diary of a Young Girl
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 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
If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a holiday to any patient who considered his work important.
BERTRAND RUSSELL
Autobiography
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
Work is the mechanism that drives production.
AL MILLER
"The transforming power of work", Jamaica Observer, April 2, 2017
I have infinite capacity to do more work as long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero.
SCOTT ADAMS
Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert
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
I do not believe we can repair the basic fabric of society until people who are willing to work have work. Work organizes life. It gives structure and discipline to life.
BILL CLINTON
speech in Memphis, November 13, 1993
Immediate work, even poor, is worth more than dreams.
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE
My Heart Laid Bare
The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.
ELBERT HUBBARD
The American Bible
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
We are not unaccustomed to becoming imposters by the time we reach our desks each morning. By design, we've been taught that professionalism in American office society mostly equates to assimilation -- requiring that, as employees, we self-adjust to fit into a ready-made office culture governed by unwritten rules. Our identities, which transcend across race, gender, marital status, sexuality, education and economic background, are not to be considered acceptable fodder for a politically-correct workplace environment.
SHERREL DORSEY
"Bringing Your 'Whole Self' to Work Is Harder Than It Sounds", Triple Pundit, February 1, 2016
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
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