quotations about work
True Work is the necessity of poor humanity's earthly condition. The dignity is in leisure. Besides, 99 hundredths of all the work done in the world is either foolish and unnecessary, or harmful and wicked.
HERMAN MELVILLE
letter to Catherine G. Lansing, September 5, 1877
Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Our salvation is in work, but let us also take delight in that work.
MAXIM GORKY
Untimely Thoughts
If all you do in life is work really hard, you're never going to get wealthy. Because it's not enough that you work hard to make money to set some of it aside.... to ensure future wealth, you must equally work smart.
RIC EDELMAN
"Working hard won't make you rich", Business Insider, April 2, 2017
Many a man works himself to death by burying himself in his work.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
No longer diverted by other emotions, I work the way a cow grazes.
KÄTHE KOLLWITZ
Diaries and Letters
When master and workmen unite the work is soon done.
WAKATAUKI
attributed, Day's Collacon
No nation can ever fulfil its potential without a positive mindset towards work, a commitment to work, and actual engagement in hard work. Work has to be a principle on which we build. Families should exemplify it, schools must teach it, churches must reinforce it and society must provide the opportunity for all to practice it.
AL MILLER
"The transforming power of work", Jamaica Observer, April 2, 2017
If one man has a dollar he didn't work for, some other man worked for a dollar he didn't get.
BILL HAYWOOD
Roughneck: The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood
The humblest workman has his place,
Which no one else can fill.
MAUD LINDSAY
"The Little Gray Pony", Mother Stories
No matter how humble your work may seem, do it in the spirit of an artist, of a master. In this way you lift it out of commonness and rob it of what would otherwise be drudgery.
ORISON SWETT MARDEN
He Can Who Thinks He Can
Some people were born to work for others. Not in a mindless, servile-way--rather they simply work better in a set regimen of daily tasks and functions. Others were born of the entrepreneurial spirit and enjoy the demands of self-determination and the roll of the dice.
RICHARD PAUL EVANS
The Christmas Box
Work restores humankind and all its attributes to the savage animal condition that was its original intended state.
ELFRIEDE JELINEK
Lust
Each man delights in the work that suits him best.
HOMER
The Odyssey
We need economy that rewards work, not just wealth.
JOE BIDEN
speech on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Changes to the way we work are bringing a focus on both the role of the stand alone workplace, and the design of cities. As co-working spaces evolve to meet the demand of workers for flexible, autonomous and creative work environments, broader changes are occurring in how we work and live.
LIBBY SANDER
"Co-working is evolving to combine co-living", Business Insider, March 29, 2017
While it will never be possible for employers to control all the factors that contribute to happiness at work, you can certainly help to create the right conditions for it. Ultimately, happiness is a choice, and a positive, healthy workplace environment is a good starting point. The benefits will be seen in better quality work, and significant improvements in recruitment and retention.
ROBERT HALF
"Happiness at work -- is it natural or necessary?", Business Zone , March 31, 2017
As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey.
THOMAS EDISON
attributed, The Great Book of Best Quotes of All Time
I am not sure that life, to any one,
A fuller measure of contentment brings,
With all its gifts, than in the draught which springs,
From honest work, well plann'd, and bravely done.
WILLIAM WILSEY MARTIN
"Labor"
The workman is a vine that is crushed by the burden of its own clustered grapes.
ABRAHAM MILLER
Unmoral Maxims