Quotes about work
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Nathuram Godse photo
Tupac Shakur photo
Pope Paul VI photo

“If you want peace, work for justice.”

Pope Paul VI (1897–1978) 262nd Pope of the Catholic Church
Chris Rock photo
Johnny Depp photo

“If there's any message to my work, it is ultimately that it's OK to be different, that it's good to be different, that we should question ourselves before we pass judgment on someone who looks different, behaves different, talks different, is a different color.”

Johnny Depp (1963) American actor, film producer, and musician

Variant: If there's any message, it is ultimately that it's okay to be different; that it's good to be different, that we should question ourselves before we pass judgment on someone who looks different, behaves different, talks different, is a different color.

Maria Montessori photo
Sadhguru photo
Leonard Bernstein photo
Rick Riordan photo
Michael Jordan photo
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn photo
Marcus Aurelius photo
Ronald Reagan photo

“It's true hard work never killed anyone, but I figure, why take the chance?”

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)

On his relaxed approach to work, as quoted in Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio : a History Illustrated from the Collection of the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum (2001) by Lou Cannon
Post-presidency (1989–2004)

Emily Brontë photo
Haruki Murakami photo
Stephen R. Covey photo
Andrew Carnegie photo
John Dewey photo
Ted Turner photo
Vladimir Lenin photo

“America has become one of the foremost countries in regard to the depth of the abyss which lies between the handful of arrogant multimillionaires who wallow in filth and luxury, and the millions of working people who constantly live on the verge of pauperism.”

Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian politician, led the October Revolution

Collected Works, Vol. 28, p. 62–75.
Collected Works
Source: A Letter to American Workingmen: From the Socialist Soviet Republic of Russia

Johnny Depp photo
Martin Luther photo

“I've got so much work to do today, I'd better spend two hours in prayer instead of one.”

Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation

Variant: I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.

Bill Clinton photo
Jim Morrison photo
Bertrand Russell photo
Jodi Picoult photo
B. Traven photo

“The creative person should have no other biography than his works.”

B. Traven (1890–1969) German novelist

Source: Quoted by Red Marriott in " Traven, B. – An Anti-Biography https://libcom.org/library/b-traven-anti-biography" (2007)

Ref: en.wikiquote.org - B. Traven / Quotes

Wangari Maathai photo
Brandon Mull photo

“When jumping is the sole option, you jump, and try to make it work.”

Brandon Mull (1974) American fiction writer

Source: Grip of the Shadow Plague

Charles Manson photo
Warren Farrell photo
Edith Stein photo

“The singular mission of the working woman is to fuse her feminine calling with her vocational calling and, by means of that fusion, to give a feminine quality to her vocational calling.”

Edith Stein (1891–1942) Jewish-German nun, theologian and philosopher

Essays on Woman (1996), Fundamental Principles of Women's Education (1931)

Bill Skarsgård photo
Helena Bonham Carter photo
Yuvan Shankar Raja photo
Jeff Tweedy photo
Vincent de Paul photo

“However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of.”

Vincent de Paul (1581–1660) French priest, founder and saint

As quoted in Reflection for November 5 in Saint Companions for Each Day (1986) by A. J. M. Mousolfe & J. K. Mousolfe, p. 417

George Carlin photo
Jennifer Lopez photo

“Everyone who works with me calls me "Ma." I'm the motherly type.”

Jennifer Lopez (1969) American singer and actress

Interview http://web.archive.org/20000815073212/www.eonline.com/Celebs/Qa/Lopez2000/interview2.html for E! Online, 15 August 2000.

Lady Gaga photo
Vera Rubin photo
Martin Luther photo
Dante Alighieri photo

“When we understand this we see clearly that the subject round which the alternative senses play must be twofold. And we must therefore consider the subject of this work [the Divine Comedy] as literally understood, and then its subject as allegorically intended. The subject of the whole work, then, taken in the literal sense only is "the state of souls after death" without qualification, for the whole progress of the work hinges on it and about it. Whereas if the work be taken allegorically, the subject is "man as by good or ill deserts, in the exercise of the freedom of his choice, he becomes liable to rewarding or punishing justice."”
Hiis visis, manifestum est quod duplex oportet esse subiectum circa quod currant alterni sensus. Et ideo videndum est de subiecto huius operis, prout ad litteram accipitur; deinde de subiecto, prout allegorice sententiatur. Est ergo subiectum totius operis, litteraliter tantum accepti, status animarum post mortem simpliciter sumptus. Nam de illo et circa illum totius operis versatur processus. Si vero accipiatur opus allegorice, subiectum est homo, prout merendo et demerendo per arbitrii libertatem iustitie premiandi et puniendi obnoxius est.

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian poet

Letter to Can Grande (Epistle XIII, 23–25), as translated by Charles Singleton in his essay "Two Kinds of Allegory" published in Dante Studies 1 (Harvard University Press, 1954), p. 87.
Epistolae (Letters)

Tom Watson photo

“All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.”

Tom Watson (1874–1956) American businessman

Actually a remark by Nicholas Murray Butler.
Quoted by Watson in comments about "Think" and attributed to Nicholas Murray Butler - IBM Archives: Comments on "THINK" - Transcript https://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/multimedia/think_trans.html
Misattributed
Source: American Dental Association (1959) The Journal of the American Dental Association. Vol 59. p. 289.

Rudolf Clausius photo
Douglas Adams photo
Ruth Bader Ginsburg photo
Auguste Comte photo
Hayao Miyazaki photo

“Most people depend on the internet and cellphones to survive, but what happens when they stop working? I wanted to create a mother and child who wouldn't be defeated by life without them.”

Hayao Miyazaki (1941) Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka

(2009) Independent News article 2009 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/hayao-miyazaki-modern-movies-are-too-weird-for-me-1678129.html
On Ponyo

Konrad Zuse photo

“The belief in a certain idea gives to the researcher the support for his work. Without this belief he would be lost in a sea of doubts and insufficiently verified proofs.”

Konrad Zuse (1910–1995) German computer scientist and engineer

Der Glaube an eine bestimmte Idee gibt dem Forscher den Rückhalt für seine Arbeit. Ohne diesen Glauben wäre er verloren in einem Meer von Zweifeln und halbgültigen Beweisen.
Attributed in Konrad Zuse http://www.dpma.de/ponline/erfindergalerie/bio_zuse.html on "Die Erfindergalerie", dpma.de, 2008

Albert Schweitzer photo

“I have given my life to try to alleviate the sufferings of Africa. There is something that all white men who have lived here like I must learn and know: that these individuals are a sub-race. They have neither the intellectual, mental, or emotional abilities to equate or to share equally with white men in any function of our civilization. I have given my life to try to bring them the advantages which our civilization must offer, but I have become well aware that we must retain this status: the superior and they the inferior. For whenever a white man seeks to live among them as their equals they will either destroy him or devour him. And they will destroy all of his work. Let white men from anywhere in the world, who would come to Africa, remember that you must continually retain this status; you the master and they the inferior like children that you would help or teach. Never fraternize with them as equals. Never accept them as your social equals or they will devour you. They will destroy you.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher

This has usually been presented as something "said shortly before his death" without any definite source, but appears to be entirely spurious. The "FAQ about the life and thoughts of Albert Schweitzer" http://www.schweitzer.org/faq?lang=en#rasist asserts "This quote is utterly false and is an outrageously inaccurate picture of Dr. Schweitzer’s view of Africans. Dr. Schweitzer never said or wrote anything remotely like this. It does NOT appear in the book African Notebook." This refers to some citations of it being from Afrikanische Geschichten (1938), which was translated as From My African Notebook (1939) by Mrs. C. E. B Russell
Misattributed

Henri Fayol photo
Mae West photo

“I'm the kinda girl who works for Paramount by day, and Fox all night”

Mae West (1893–1980) American actress and sex symbol

Sextette (1978)

Alfred Rosenberg photo

“I didn't say that the Jews are inferior. I didn't even maintain they are a race. I merely saw that the mixture of different cultures didn't work.”

Alfred Rosenberg (1893–1946) German architect and politician

January 12, 1946. Quoted in "Nuremberg Diary" - Page 120 - by G. M. Gilbert - History - 1995

Saint Peter photo

“But Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be exposed.”

Saint Peter (-1–67 BC) apostle and first pope

2 Peter 3:10 http://www.jw.org/en/publications/bible/nwt/books/2-peter/3/, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
Second Epistle of Peter

Ned Kelly photo
Paracelsus photo

“Belief and work, knowledge and action are one and the same thing.”

Paracelsus (1493–1541) Swiss physician and alchemist

Paracelsus - Doctor of our Time (1992)

Charles Spurgeon photo
Rita Levi-Montalcini photo

“I never had any hesitation or regrets in this sense. My life has been enriched by excellent human relations, work and interests. I have never felt lonely.”

Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909–2012) Italian neurologist

Of the fact that she never married; quoted in Associated Press obituary.

W. Edwards Deming photo
Baruch Ashlag photo
Rosa Luxemburg photo

“Bourgeois class domination is undoubtedly an historical necessity, but, so too, the rising of the working class against it.”

Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary

The Junius Pamphlet http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1915/junius/index.htm (1915)
Context: Bourgeois class domination is undoubtedly an historical necessity, but, so too, the rising of the working class against it. Capital is an historical necessity, but, so too, its grave digger, the socialist proletariat.

Martin Luther photo

“The Holy Christian Church is the principal work of God”

Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation

In The Lord's Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship, 2003, Jeffrey J. Meyers, Canon, Pr., , p. 285. http://books.google.com/books?id=6CSuYz4zj8wC&pg=PA285&dq=%22for+the+sake+of+which+all+things+were+made%22++luther&hl=en&ei=dcKXTeK3IZCw0QGkzJCBDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22for%20the%20sake%20of%20which%20all%20things%20were%20made%22%20%20luther&f=false
Auslegung vieler schöner Sprüche aus göttlicher Schrift (Exposition of Many Beautiful Verses from Divine Scripture (selection) (1547)), http://books.google.com/books?id=WCToPQAACAAJ&dq=%22Auslegung+vieler+sch%C3%B6ner+Spr%C3%BCche+%22&hl=en&ei=XcOXTbrhFeyD0QGU_YSADA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA
Dr. Martin Luther's Sämmtliche Werke, 1853, Frankfurt-on-the-Main, Erlangen, Heyder & Zimmer, vol. 52, p. 324. http://books.google.com/books?id=WsMOAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA324&dq=%22welches+willen+alles+geschaffen+ist,+darinnen+t%C3%A4glich%22&hl=en&ei=FMqXTcuLH8K60QGtgun3Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22welches%20willen%20alles%20geschaffen%20ist%2C%20darinnen%20t%C3%A4glich%22&f=false
Context: The Holy Christian Church is the principal work of God, for the sake of which all things were made. In the Church, great wonders daily occur, such as the forgiveness of sins, triumph over death... the gift of righteousness and eternal life. (Commentary on Psalm 143:5)

George S. Patton photo

“There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying.”

George S. Patton (1885–1945) United States Army general

As quoted in "The True Story of The Patton Prayer" by James H. O'Neill in Review of the News (6 October 1971) http://www.pattonhq.com/prayer.html
Context: There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything, That's where prayer comes in.

Michael Parenti photo

“Profits are what you make when not working.”

Michael Parenti (1933) American academic

Source: Democracy for the Few (2010 [1974]), sixth edition, Chapter 2, p. 9

Sun Tzu photo
Leonhard Euler photo

“For since the fabric of the universe is most perfect, and is the work of a most wise Creator, nothing whatsoever takes place in the universe in which some relation of maximum and minimum does not appear.”

Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) Swiss mathematician

introduction to De Curvis Elasticis, Additamentum I to his Methodus Inveniendi Lineas Curvas Maximi Minimive Proprietate Gaudentes 1744; translated on pg10-11, "Leonhard Euler's Elastic Curves" https://www.dropbox.com/s/o09w82abgtftpfr/1933-oldfather.pdf, Oldfather et al 1933
Context: All the greatest mathematicians have long since recognized that the method presented in this book is not only extremely useful in analysis, but that it also contributes greatly to the solution of physical problems. For since the fabric of the universe is most perfect, and is the work of a most wise Creator, nothing whatsoever takes place in the universe in which some relation of maximum and minimum does not appear. Wherefore there is absolutely no doubt that every effect in the universe can be explained as satisfactorily from final causes, by the aid of the method of maxima and minima, as it can from the effective causes themselves. Now there exist on every hand such notable instances of this fact, that, in order to prove its truth, we have no need at all of a number of examples; nay rather one's task should be this, namely, in any field of Natural Science whatsoever to study that quantity which takes on a maximum or a minimum value, an occupation that seems to belong to philosophy rather than to mathematics. Since, therefore, two methods of studying effects in Nature lie open to us, one by means of effective causes, which is commonly called the direct method, the other by means of final causes, the mathematician uses each with equal success. Of course, when the effective causes are too obscure, but the final causes are more readily ascertained, the problem is commonly solved by the indirect method; on the contrary, however, the direct method is employed whenever it is possible to determine the effect from the effective causes. But one ought to make a special effort to see that both ways of approach to the solution of the problem be laid open; for thus not only is one solution greatly strengthened by the other, but, more than that, from the agreement between the two solutions we secure the very highest satisfaction.

Kobe Bryant photo
Kobe Bryant photo
Al Capone photo
Maximilien Robespierre photo

“Democracy is a state in which the sovereign people, guided by laws which are its own work, does for itself all that it can do properly, and through delegates all that it cannot do for itself.”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

"On the Principles of Political Morality that Should Guide the National Convention in the Domestic Administration of the Republic" (5 February 1784/18 Ploviôse Year 2)

“I wish to never stop working on the things I love.”

Book: Cometan, the Omnidoxy

Joseph Goebbels photo
Eduardo Galeano photo

“The results of civilization were surprising: our lives became more secure but less free, and we worked a lot harder.”

Eduardo Galeano (1940–2015) Uruguayan writer

As quoted in Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone (2009), p. 17

Barack Obama photo
John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury photo

“A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work.”

John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury (1834–1913) British banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist and polymath
Shavkat Mirziyoyev photo

“Life is a struggle, a competition. Who will be strong in this fight? The one who is smart, educated, works hard. Today, young people should feel the attention of our state, read a lot, increase their knowledge and continue to develop.”

Shavkat Mirziyoyev (1957) President of Uzbekistan (2016-present)

"Shavkat Mirziyoyev: Every young man is as dear to me as to his parents" in UZ Daily https://www.uzdaily.uz/en/post/63421 (4 February 2021)

Katrín Jakobsdóttir photo

“It has been complicated for the past four years (2017–2021) and it will continue to be complicated. But maybe it is also healthy having to work with people who don't agree with you on everything.”

Katrín Jakobsdóttir (1976) 28th Prime Minister of Iceland

Source: Katrín Jakobsdóttir (2021) cited in: " Iceland's left-right coalition takes office for second term https://www.dw.com/en/icelands-left-right-coalition-takes-office-for-second-term/a-59962630" in DW, December 2021.

José Baroja photo
Tennessee Williams photo
George Orwell photo

“That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.”

George Orwell (1903–1950) English author and journalist

"Don't Let Colonel Blimp Ruin the Home Guard" article for the Evening Standard, 8 January 1941
Context: Even as it stands, the Home Guard could only exist in a country where men feel themselves free. The totalitarian states can do great things, but there is one thing they cannot do: they cannot give the factory-worker a rifle and tell him to take it home and keep it in his bedroom. THAT RIFLE HANGING ON THE WALL OF THE WORKING-CLASS FLAT OR LABOURER'S COTTAGE, IS THE SYMBOL OF DEMOCRACY. IT IS OUR JOB TO SEE THAT IT STAYS THERE.

Nora Ephron photo
Noam Chomsky photo
Federico Fellini photo
Louisa May Alcott photo
George Orwell photo

“Poverty frees them from normal standards of behaviour, just as money frees people from work”

Source: Down and out in Paris and London (1933), Ch. 1
Source: Down and Out in Paris and London
Context: The Paris slums are a gathering-place for eccentric people — people who have fallen into solitary, half-mad grooves of life and given up trying to be normal or decent. Poverty frees them from normal standards of behaviour, just as money frees people from work. Some of the lodgers in our hotel lived lives that were curious beyond words.

George Orwell photo
Corrie ten Boom photo
Conan O'Brien photo

“All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism - it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.”

Conan O'Brien (1963) American television show host and comedian

Final words, January 22, 2010 TV Guide news http://www.tvguide.com/News/Conans-Words-Tonight-1014105.aspx
The Tonight Show
Context: Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, the Late Night show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible. Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun. And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the Internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism - it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. As proof, let’s make an amazing thing happen right now. Here to close out our show, are a few good friends, led by Mr. Will Ferrell…

Anna Akhmatova photo

“I have a lot of work to do today;
I need to slaughter memory,
Turn my living soul to stone
Then teach myself to live again.”

Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966) Russian modernist poet

Source: The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova