WORK QUOTES V

quotations about work

The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

ROBERT FROST

attributed, The New Speaker's Treasury of Wit and Wisdom

Tags: Robert Frost


The phrase "work-life balance" tells us that people think that work is the opposite of life. We should be talking about life-life balance.

PATRICK DIXON

Building a Better Business


Work seemed something fundamental for man, something which enabled him to endure the aimless flight of time.

KOBO ABE

The Woman in the Dunes

Tags: Kobo Abe


Does not the latent feeling that much of their striving is to no purpose tend to infuse large quantities of sham into men's work?

WILLIAM ALLINGHAM

A Diary

Tags: William Allingham


The more powerful the work, the more powerless the worker.

KARL MARX

"Alienated Labor", Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts

Tags: Karl Marx


Though thousands of people indulge themselves in it regularly, and even develop a taste for it, there is no doubt in my mind (and that of scientists whom I employ to prove it) that Work is a dangerous and destructive drug, and should be called by its right name, which is Fatigue.

ROBERTSON DAVIES

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks

Tags: Robertson Davies


The reveries of the dreamer advance his hopes, but not their realization. One good hour of earnest work is worth them all.

CHRISTIAN NESTELL BOVEE

Intuitions and Summaries of Thought


All work is an act of philosophy.

AYN RAND

Atlas Shrugged

Tags: Ayn Rand


The only way to go beyond work is through work. It is not that work itself is valuable; we surmount work by work. The real value of work lies in the strength of self-denial.

KOBO ABE

The Woman in the Dunes

Tags: Kobo Abe


The 21st-century adage of a work/life balance makes the nature of work as personally positive and enjoyable apparently incidental to our lives, the two understood as disparate entities rather than entwined for our pleasure 24/7.

PAULYNE POGORELSKE

"Faith: work is not a dirty word", The Age, March 25, 2017


Anyone familiar with office life knows that it's not exactly a non-stop thrill ride: the ceaseless emails, the unnecessarily confusing business jargon, the knock-down, drag-out fights with the photocopier. We're all looking for a little delight amid the tedium, and it's driving a new school of corporate thought--one that's changing the way we work. These days, the happiness of individual employees comes second only to profits on the list of priorities. Gone are the days of cartoonishly horrible bosses; instead, more managers are positively hell-bent on putting a smile on your face.

KATIE UNDERWOOD

"Why developing friendships at work is so important", Canadian Business, January 27, 2016


A work well begun is half ended.

PLATO

attributed, Day's Collacon

Tags: Plato


Hard work cheerfully done is easy work, while light work unwillingly done is mere drudgery.

E. P. DAY

attributed, Day's Collacon


Experience shows that success is due less to ability than to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work body and soul.

CHARLES BUXTON

Notes of Thought

Tags: Charles Buxton


Every man's work, pursued steadily, tends to become an end in itself, and so to bridge over the loveless chasms of his life.

GEORGE ELIOT

Silas Marner

Tags: George Eliot


Like bees that are drowned in the honey which they make, the workmen are crushed by the wealth they create.

ABRAHAM MILLER

Unmoral Maxims

Tags: Abraham Miller


Fast forward to today, and it's clear that the definition of work is continuing to morph, now even faster than before. Savvy employers realize there is little time to waste and that they must adapt to a variety of cultural and technological changes if they want to attract and retain talent.

PAIGE O'NEILL

"The definition of work is shifting", Network World, March 13, 2017


Who first invented work and bound the free
And holiday-rejoicing spirit down
To the unremitting importunity
Of business, in the green fields, and the town;
To plough, loom, anvil, spade--and oh! most sad!
To this dry drudgery of the desk's dead wood?
Who but the Being unblest, alien from good,
SABBATHLESS SATAN!

CHARLES LAMB

"Sonnet", The Examiner, June 20, 1819

Tags: Charles Lamb


To him that toileth God oweth glory, child of his toil.

AESCHYLUS

fragment

Tags: Aeschylus


Work alone isn't enough for me and mine;
we know how to break our backs, but the great dream
Of my fathers was to be good at doing nothing.

CESARE PAVESE

"Ancestors"

Tags: Cesare Pavese