WORK QUOTES IX

quotations about work

The better shaped his product, the more misshapen the worker.

KARL MARX

"Alienated Labor", Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts


No longer diverted by other emotions, I work the way a cow grazes.

KÄTHE KOLLWITZ

Diaries and Letters


Having boundaries in life, especially at work, is important for protecting our happiness. Boundaries allow us to say no when we need to, but also mean we can say yes when the opportunity is right.

LOUISE LAMBERT

"You can't do it all: turning down work is sometimes a necessity", Albawaba Business, February 3, 2016


None but those who work are entitled to eat.

AESOP

"The Brazier and His Dog", Aesop's Fables

Tags: Aesop


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


If you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn't anything you can't do if you want to.

JIM HENSON

It's Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider


There is no such thing as unfortunate genius; if a man or woman is fit for work, God appoints the field.

ADA ISAACS MENKEN

Infelicia


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

Tags: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


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"

Tags: William Wilsey Martin


Drive a nail home and clinch it so faithfully that you can wake up in the night and think of your work with satisfaction -- a work at which you would not be ashamed to invoke the Muse.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Walden

Tags: Henry David Thoreau


After forty years of close acquaintance with it, I've found that work is kind to its friends and harsh to its enemies. It pays the fellow who dislikes it his exact wages, and they're generally pretty small; but it gives the man who shines up to it all the money he wants and throws in a heap of fun and satisfaction for good measure.

GEORGE HORACE LORIMER

Old Gorgon Graham

Tags: George Horace Lorimer


Are there many situations more sublimely tragic than the struggle of the soul with the demand to renounce a work which has been all the significance of its life--a significance which is to vanish as the waters which come and go where no man has need of them?

GEORGE ELIOT

Middlemarch


Work that is pure toil, done solely for the sake of the money it earns, is also sheer drudgery because it is stultifying rather than self improving.

MORTIMER ADLER

A Vision of the Future: Twelve Ideas for a Better Life and a Better Society


It is not work that kills; but no work and overwork.

ALDO MANUZIO

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 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


Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

speech to the New York State Agricultural Association, Syracuse, New York, September 7, 1903

Tags: Theodore Roosevelt


A man succeeds in completing a work only when his qualities transcend that work.

CESARE PAVESE

The Business of Living

Tags: Cesare Pavese


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


Nothing will work unless you do.

MAYA ANGELOU

Facebook post, January 2, 2014

Tags: Maya Angelou