“It's surprising how hard we'll work when the work is done just for ourselves.”
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Bill Watterson 165
American comic artist 1958Related quotes
Only the final bold section is connected to Laozi (see Ch. 17 of Tao Te Ching above). The origin of the added first section is unclear.
Misattributed
Variant: A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
Context: "Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. With the best leaders when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say, "We have done this ourselves."
'I Dream of Jeannie' star Barbara Eden describes working with Larry Hagman, Elvis and Lucille Ball https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/i-dream-of-jeannie-star-barbara-eden-describes-working-with-larry-hagman-elvis-and-lucille-ball (October 6, 2017)
“Everybody loves to show up at the party once all the hard work is done.”
Source: The Serpent's Shadow
“There are few secrets to leadership. It is mostly just hard work.”
Source: My Share Of The Task (2013), p. 393-394
Context: All leaders are human. They get tired, angry, and jealous and carry the same range of emotions and frailties common to mankind. Most leaders periodically display them. The leaders I most admired were totally human but constantly strove to be the best humans they could be. Leaders make mistakes, and they are often costly. The first reflex is normally to deny the failure to themselves; the second is to hide it from others, because most leaders covet a reputation for infallibility. But it's a fool's dream and inherently dishonest. There are few secrets to leadership. It is mostly just hard work. More than anything else it requires self-discipline. Colorful, charismatic characters often fascinate people, even soldiers. But over time, effectiveness is what counts. Those who lead most successfully do so while looking out for their followers' welfare.
“People can see the achievement and how hard work leads to it.”
As quoted in "African Americans in the Military" https://books.google.com/books?id=QF9grMa_84YC&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=%22People+can+see+the+achievement+and+how+hard+work+leads+to+it.%22 (2014), by Catherine Reef, Infobase Publishing, p. 34
“How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again!”
Misquote: It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.
Source: Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2 (2013), p. 302
“I learned the value of hard work by working hard.”
Attributed in You Vs. You: Sport Psychology Got Life (2005) by Wayne Mazzoni, p. 90
2000s