quotations about work
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
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
It is useless work that darkens the heart.
URSULA K. LE GUIN
The Dispossessed
You reach a point where you don't work for money.
WALT DISNEY
attributed, The Quotable Billionaire
Since the Fall, man had accepted labor as a penance and for its power to work redemption. It was not a law of nature which forced man to work, but the effect of a curse.
MICHEL FOUCAULT
Madness & Civilization
He must put his whole life into his work, who would do it well, and make it potential to influence other lives.
CHRISTIAN NESTELL BOVEE
Intuitions and Summaries of Thought
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
No man is born into the world whose work
Is not born with him. There is always work,
And tools to work withal, for those who will;
And blessed are the horny hands of toil.
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
A Glance Behind the Curtain
Many hands make light work.
JOHN HEYWOOD
Proverbs
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
I don't like work -- no man does -- but I like what is in work -- the chance to find yourself.
JOSEPH CONRAD
The Heart of Darkness
Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite of poverty.
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
Little Women
Are you the type of person who gets taken in by flattery and ends up staying late to do work others could be doing? What would happen if you said no? These habits are tough to break in organisations, but if you don't gently steer these requests more fairly to others on your team, you will continue to be given more work just because you always say yes and your happiness at work will be undermined. It really is okay for everyone to say no sometimes, as this lets your organisation know that workloads are heavy and assistance may be required.
LOUISE LAMBERT
"You can't do it all: turning down work is sometimes a necessity", Albawaba Business, February 3, 2016
Some men are so eager for success that they are even willing to work for it.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
I can't abide to see men throw away their tools i' that way, the minute the clock begins to strike, as if they took no pleasure i' their work, and was afraid o' doing a stroke too much.... I hate to see a man's arms drop down as if he was shot, before the clock's fairly struck, just as if he'd never a bit o' pride and delight in's work. The very grindstone 'ull go on turning a bit after you loose it.
GEORGE ELIOT
Adam Bede
Work today is not a place -- it's a set of tasks, timelines, and tools.
SAM WORTHINGTON
"Work is a state of mind: Building a productive virtual team", IT Brief, April 3, 2017
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
Work is oft a four-letter word, bemoaned, begrudged and belittled by those bored by their nine-to-five routine.
PAULYNE POGORELSKE
"Faith: work is not a dirty word", The Age, March 25, 2017
Women who don't go OUT to work, of course, are dismissed as homemakers or housewives, with little thought spared for the huge quantum of work they do. Once a baby arrive they become known as stay-at-home mothers (SAHM), perceived to be cooler because "mothering" is a little more specific.
ANUPAMA KAPOOR
"A Woman's Work Is Never Done ... But It Should Be", Huffington Post, January 2, 2016
When it comes to women and work, the largest myth of all is that working is somehow optional. Like men, women work for personal fulfillment and a passion for their job. Also like men, women work to support themselves and their families, and always have.
MARIANNE COOPER
"We act as if work is optional for women. It's not.", The Washington Post, February 5, 2016