Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher
Labor disgraces no man, but occasionally men disgrace labor.
—Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85) American Head of State, Military Leader
You see me in my most virile moment when you see me doing what I do. When I am directing, a special energy comes upon me … It is only when I am doing my work that I feel truly alive. It is like having sex.
—Federico Fellini (1920–93) Italian Film Director
Material science now has the clear possibility and promise of the systematic utilization of all the natural resources of the earth for the good of the whole human race…. Maintaining and improving the standard of living of all the peoples of the earth through increasing use of mechanical horsepower and the scientific approach is now one of the keys to peace in the world.
—Charles E. Wilson (1886–1972) American Businessperson
The great difference between those who succeed and those who fail does not consist in the amount of work done by each but in the amount of intelligent work. Many of those who fail most ignominiously do enough to achieve grand success but they labor haphazardly at whatever they are assigned, building up with one hand to tear down with the other. They do not grasp circumstances and change them into opportunities. They have no faculty for turning honest defeats into telling victories. With ability enough and ample time, the major ingredients of success, they are forever throwing back and forth an empty shuttle and the real web of their life is never woven.
—Og Mandino
In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.
—Laozi (b.604BCE–d:Unknown) Chinese Philosopher
Wanting to work is so rare a merit that it should be encouraged.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.
—Anatole France (1844-1924) French Novelist
There are only two ways of getting on in the world; by one’s own industry, or by the stupidity of others.
—Jean de La Bruyere
I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet
A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune’s inequality exhibits under this sun.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Writer
Work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons.
—Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) Polish Catholic Religious Leader
You’ll never succeed in idealizing hard work. Before you can dig mother earth you’ve got to take off your ideal jacket. The harder a man works, at brute labor, the thinner becomes his idealism, the darker his mind.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we should always save some of it for tomorrow.
—Don Herold (1889–1966) American Humorist, Writer, Illustrator, Cartoonist
It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun. Yet, is it any more unusual to find grace in the texture and softly curved silhouette of a bun than to reflect lovingly on … the arrangement of textures and colors in a butterfly’s wing?
—Ray Kroc (1902–84) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
You know that it is only through work that you can achieve anything, either in college or in the world
—Charles William Eliot (1834–1926) American Educator, Academic
It is by work that man carves his way to that measure of power which will fit him for his destiny.
—Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–81) American Novelist, Poet
I didn’t want to work. It was as simple as that. I distrusted work, disliked it. I thought it was a very bad thing that the human race had unfortunately invented for itself.
—Agatha Christie (1890-1976) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
When work goes out of style, we may expect to see civilization totter and fall.
—John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) American Businessperson, Philanthropist
The greatest analgesic, soporific, stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic, and to some extent even antibiotic –in short, the closest thing to a genuine panacea –known to medical science is work.
—Thomas Szasz (b.1920) Hungarian Psychiatrist, Academic
Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Inspiration comes of working every day.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821-67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
Cessation of work is not accompanied by cessation of expenses.
—Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato) (233BCE–148BCE) Ancient Roman Political leader, Jurist, Historian
We are coming to see that there should be no stifling of labor by capital, or of capital by labor; and also that there should be no stifling of labor by labor, or of capital by capital.
—John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874–1960) American Philanthropist, Businessperson
The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won’t work—if you won’t.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Sportsperson
I believe that good things come to those who work.
—Wilt Chamberlain (1936–99) American Sportsperson
Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies.
—Albert Camus (1913-60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
A man is never astonished that he doesn’t know what another does, but he is surprised at the gross ignorance of the other in not knowing he does.
—Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796–1865) Canadian Author, Humorist, Businessperson, Judge
He had kept his head, kept his health and his strength, bearing up under a weight of work and worry that only a few could have carried.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now.
—P. T. Barnum (1810–91) American Businessperson, Entertainer
The only way to eliminate unemployment is to eliminate unemployment benefits.
—Philip Larkin (1922–85) English Poet, Librarian, Novelist
Why should I let the toad work Squat on my life? Can’t I use my wit as a pitchfork and drive the brute off?
—Philip Larkin (1922–85) English Poet, Librarian, Novelist
The rewards are profound. Shadow-work enables us to alter our self-sabotaging behavior so that we can achieve a more self-directed life.
—Connie Zweig American Minister, Columnist, Psychotherapist
The sum of wisdom is that time is never lost that is devoted to work.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
It’s not the increasing competition; it’s going back to real work that most of us complain about.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him whose?
—Don Marquis (1878–1937) American Humorist, Journalist, Novelist, Playwright, Writer
Men who have attained things worth having in this world have worked while others idled, have persevered when others gave up in despair, have practiced early in life the valuable habits of self-denial, industry, and singleness of purpose. As a result, they enjoy in later life the success so often erroneously attributed to good luck.
—Grenville Kleiser (1868–1935) Canadian Author
Let us realize that:|the privilege to work is a gift,|the power to work is a blessing,|the love of work is success!
—David O. McKay (1873–1970) American Mormon Religious Leader
The higher men climb,|the longer their working day.|There are no office hours for leaders.
—James Gibbons (1834–1921) American Catholic Religious Leader, Clergyman
When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.
—Henry J. Kaiser (1882–1967) American Businessperson, Philanthropists
All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which the Constitution was written. Everything depends on our understanding of them.
—Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American Judge
You’ve got to be in top physical condition. Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Sportsperson
To get the whole world out of bed|And washed, and dressed, and warmed, and fed,|To work, and back to bed again,|Believe me, Saul, costs worlds of pain.
—John Masefield (1878–1967) English Poet, Novelist, Playwright
Hard work is simply the refuge of people who have nothing whatever to do.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet
Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train. Are you going sixty miles an hour or is the train going sixty miles an hour and you’re just sitting still?
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
—C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–93) British Historian, Scholar, Novelist, Satirist
More men are killed by overwork than the importance of the world justifies.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to earth.
—Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American Novelist, Human Rights Activist
We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work.
—John F. Kennedy (1917-63) American Head of State, Journalist
Work is a great blessing; after evil came into the world, it was given as an antidote, not as a punishment.
—Arthur Sherburne Hardy (1847–1930) American Engineer, Educator, Editor, Diplomat, Novelist, Poet
A champion of the working man has never yet been known to die of overwork.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
Something made greater by ourselves and in turn that makes us greater.
—Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American Poet
Do today’s duty, fight today’s temptation; do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.
—Charles Kingsley (1819-75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
The man who does not work for the love of work but only for money is not likely to make money nor to find much fun in life.
—Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939) American Businessperson
A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you, and were helped by you, will remember you when forget-me-nots are withered. Carve your name on hearts, and not on marble.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) British Baptist Preacher, Theologian, Hymn writer
Give me love and work — these two only.
—William Morris (1834–96) English Textile Designer, Artist, Socialist, Writer
The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet
A human being is only interesting if he’s in contact with himself. I learned you have to trust yourself, be what you are, and do what you ought to do the way you should do it. You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it.
—Barbra Streisand (b.1942) American Musician, Actor, Songwriter
A man at work, making something which he feels will exist because he is working at it and wills it, is exercising the energies of his mind and soul as well as of his body. Memory and imagination help him as he works. Not only his own thoughts, but the thoughts of the men of past ages guide his hands; and, as part of the human race, he creates. If we work thus we shall be men, and our days will be happy and eventful.
—William Morris (1834–96) English Textile Designer, Artist, Socialist, Writer
Are you doing the kind of work you were built for, so that you can expect to be able to do very large amounts of that kind and thrive under it? Or are you doing a kind of which you can do comparatively little?
—B. C. Forbes (1880-1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
—Newt Gingrich (b.1943) American Elected Rep, Politician
Work will win when wishy washy wishing won’t.
—Thomas S. Monson (b.1927) American Mormon Religious Leader
The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!
—Earl Nightingale (1921-89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Folks who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for anymore than they do.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
I suppose I have a really loose interpretation of “work,” because I think that just being alive is so much work at something you don’t always want to do. The machinery is always going. Even when you sleep.
—Andy Warhol (1928-87) American Painter, Printmaker, Film Personality
Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
He who would really benefit mankind must reach them through their work.
—Henry Ford (1863-1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
Work is life, you know, and without it, there’s nothing but fear and insecurity.
—John Lennon (1940-80) British Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Activist
Nobody can be successful unless he loves his work.
—David Sarnoff (1891–1971) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
J.P. Morgan, then past 70, was asked by the son of an eminent father why he (Morgan) didn’t retire. “When did your father retire?” asked Mr. Morgan, without looking up from his desk. “In 1902.” “When did he die? Oh, at the end of 1904.” “Huh!” snapped Mr. Morgan, “If he had kept on working he would have been alive still. Work is God’s best medicine. It is God’s medicine for man.”
—B. C. Forbes (1880-1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.
—Arthur Brisbane (1864–1936) American Journalist, Editor
I’ve always believed in magic. When I wasn’t doing anything in this town, I’d go up every night, sit on Mulholland Drive, look out at the city, stretch out my arms, and say, “Everybody wants to work with me. I’m a really good actor. I have all kinds of great movie offers”. I’d just repeat these things over and over, literally convincing myself that I had a couple movies lined up. I’d drive down that hill, ready to take the world on, going, “Movie offers are out there for me, I just don’t hear them yet”. It was like total affirmations, antidotes to the stuff that stems from my family background.
—Jim Carrey (b.1962) Canadian Actor, Comedian
He was in love with his work, and he felt the enthusiasm for it which nothing but the work we can do well inspires in us.
—William Dean Howells (1837–1920) American Novelist, Short story Author, Editor
Shadow-making happens in families and makes us who we are. It leads to shadow-work, which makes us who we can become.
—Connie Zweig American Minister, Columnist, Psychotherapist
A human being must have occupation, of he or she is not to become a nuisance to the world.
—Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) British Novelist, Playwright, Essayist, Translator, Poet
Occupation was one of the pleasures of paradise, and we cannot be happy without it.
—Anna Brownell Jameson
Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a disgrace
—Hesiod (b.1493) Greek Poet, Economist
Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. General recognition of this fact is shown in the proverbial phrase “It is the busiest man who has time to spare.”
—C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–93) British Historian, Scholar, Novelist, Satirist
I’ve had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven’t run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can’t outwork you, then smarts aren’t going to do them much good. That’s just the way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you’d be surprised at how much fun you can have.
—Woody Hayes (1913–87) American Sportsperson
The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
The work will stand, no matter what.
—Meryl Streep (b.1949) American Actor
The workers are the saviors of society, the redeemers of the race.
—Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) American Socialist, Union Leader
It is necessary to work, if not from inclination, at least from despair. Everything considered, work is less boring than amusing oneself.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821-67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
The honest work of yesterday has lost its social status, its social esteem.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle never know.
—Charles Kingsley (1819-75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
—Henry J. Kaiser (1882–1967) American Businessperson, Philanthropists
My only concern was to get home after a hard day’s work.
—Rosa Parks (1913-2005) American Civil Rights Leader
Never work just for money or for power. They won’t save your soul or help you sleep at night.
—Marian Wright Edelman (b.1939) American Civil Regrets Advocate, Humanitarian, Lawyer
To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness.
—John Dewey (1859-1952) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Educator
To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.
—Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American Novelist, Human Rights Activist
Whimpering never kept a leaking vessel from foundering. Vigorously manning the pumps has. Get busy with your head and hands, not your chin.
—B. C. Forbes (1880-1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
It is not a dreamlike state, but the somehow insulated state, that a great musician achieves in a great performance. He’s aware of where he is and what he’s doing, but his mind is on the playing of his instrument with an internal sense of rightness — it is not merely mechanical, it is not only spiritual; it is something of both, on a different plane and a more remote one.
—Arnold Palmer (b.1929) American Sportsperson
There is no boon in nature. All the blessings we enjoy are the fruits of labor, toil, self-denial, and study.
—William Graham Sumner (1840–1910) American Polymath, Academic, Historian, Sociologist, Anthropologist
My God these fellows have done more work in one night than I could make my army do in three months.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent; work transforms talent into genius.
—Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) Russian Dancer
One must work and dare if one really wants to live.
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.
—Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British Head of State
When you work in the inner mind, you invoke and receive the help of the impersonal, unlimited resources of the universe.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter, Writer
There is honor in labor. Work is the medicine of the soul. It is more: it is your very life, without which you would amount to little.
—Grenville Kleiser (1868–1935) Canadian Author
Vineyards and shining harvests, pastures, arbors,|And all this our very utmost toil|Can hardly care for, we wear down our strength|Whether in oxen or in men, we dull|The edges of our ploughshares, and in return|Our fields turn mean and stingy, underfed,|And so today the farmer shakes his head,|More and more often sighing that his work,|The labour of his hands, has come to naught.
—Lucretius Roman Poet, Philosopher
Doing more of what doesn’t work won’t make it work any better.
—Charles J. Givens (1941–98) American Self-Help Writer
Nowhere so busy a man as he than he, and yet he seemed busier than he was.
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) English Poet, Philosopher, Diplomat, Bureaucrat
The better work men do is always done under stress and at great personal cost.
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) American Pediatrician, Doctor, Poet, Socialist, Author
All I was doing was trying to get home from work.
—Rosa Parks (1913-2005) American Civil Rights Leader