Quotes about work
page 26

“There's an epigram tacked to my office bulletin board, pinched from a magazine -- "Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pâté.”

Margaret Atwood (1939) Canadian writer

Source: Negotiating with the Dead

“God has mercifully ordered that the human brain works slowly; first the blow, hours afterwards the bruise.”

Walter de la Mare (1873–1956) English poet and fiction writer

Source: The Return

God

“Now, Max, I think we both know your parents aren't missionaries."
I opened my eyes wide. "No? Well, for God's sake, don't tell them. They'd be crushed. Thinking they're doing the
Lord's work and all.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: School's Out—Forever

God, Thinking, Parent

“Ted said, "You're working for the Order now." "Yes." "How does it feel?" "Well, Doctor, it feels rather sore and tingly.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Bites

Feeling

“I sat down next to her. Took her hand. This can work, I said. All we have to do is try.”

Junot Díaz book This Is How You Lose Her

Source: This Is How You Lose Her

“Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day.”

Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American playwright and novelist

Reading

“High school taught me a valuable lesson about glasses: Don't wear them. Contacts have always seemed like too much work, so instead I just squint, figuring that if something is more than ten feet away, I'll just deal with it when I get there.”

David Sedaris When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Source: When You Are Engulfed in Flames

School

“Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds.”

Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer

Source: Outliers: The Story of Success

People, Sense, Success

“Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don't like - then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping.”

Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker

Parting

“There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand. I am practically industrious — painstaking, a workman to execute with perseverance and labour — but besides this there is a love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous, intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore.”

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Robert Walton in "Letter 2"
Source: Frankenstein (1818)

Love, Men, Soul, Understanding

“This is what it look like when it WORKS?”

Jim Butcher book Cursor's Fury

Source: Cursor's Fury

“If it works, it's out of date.”

David Bowie (1947–2016) British musician, actor, record producer and arranger

“Jerome said, It's like, a family doesn't work anymore when everyone in it is more miserable than they would be if they were alone, You know?”

Zadie Smith On Beauty

Source: On Beauty

Family

“The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work. The professional concentrates on the work and allows rewards to come or not come, whatever they like.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Source: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Learning, Success, Happiness

“I used to believe. I used to think that if I wanted it bad enough, wished hard enough, everything would work out the way It was supposed to. Destiny, like Susannah said.”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

Source: It's Not Summer Without You

Way, Thinking

“Got something new, maybe it'll work before the end of the day if that's ok.”

Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books

“A poet's work… to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep.”

Salman Rushdie (1947) British Indian novelist and essayist

World, Fraud, Sleep

“Capitalism tries for a delicate balance: It attempts to work things out so that everyone gets just enough stuff to keep them from getting violent and trying to take other people’s stuff.”

George Carlin (1937–2008) American stand-up comedian

People

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.”

Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) American journalist and author

Hate, Alcohol

“Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.”

Garrison Keillor (1942) American radio host and writer

Trademarked closing lines in The Writer's Almanac http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/ <br class="br">Source: Good Poems

Goodbye

“Do you work for the government, any government?”
"I pay taxes, which means I work for the government, part of the time. Yes.”

Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) American speculative fiction writer

Source: My Name is Legion

Time, Parting

“Computers are great because when you're working with them you get immediate results that let you know if your program works. It's feedback you don't get from many other things.”

Bill Gates (1955) American business magnate and philanthropist

“You must find another reason to work, other than the desire for success or recognition. It must come from another place.”

Elizabeth Gilbert (1969) American writer

Success

“if we could act a little more according to common sense, and a good deal less according to fashion, we should find many things work easier;”

Anna Sewell book Black Beauty

Source: Black Beauty

Fashion, Sense

“I hope you feel better today. Please ring me at work if you are dead.”

Jaclyn Moriarty book Feeling Sorry for Celia

Source: Feeling Sorry for Celia

Hope, Feeling, Dead

“… and Jo laid the rustling sheets together with a careful hand, as one might shut the covers of a lovely romance, which holds the reader fast till the end comes, and he finds himself alone in the work-a-day world again.”

Louisa May Alcott book Little Women

Source: Little Women

Love, World

“We shouldn't have been so scornful; we should have had compassion. But compassion takes work, and we were young.”

Margaret Atwood book The Year of the Flood

Source: The Year of the Flood

“I'm sure. But it doesn't work with me. for one thing, you won't look me in the eye. As for the other… I don't know. I can just tell.”

Richelle Mead Shadow Kiss

Source: Shadow Kiss

“Work smarter, not harder”

Carl Barks (1901–2000) American cartoonist, author, and painter

“Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.”

George Carlin (1937–2008) American stand-up comedian

206

Back To Work, Funny, Money, People

“Someone with inborn talent isn't happy. It's those who have worked hard for someone precious to them and who can be hot-blooded that are happy."
-Gai Sensei: Naruto Episode 196”

Masashi Kishimoto book Naruto

Happiness

“Treat a work of art like a prince: let it speak to you first.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

Art

“Life works on strange laws of nature (Karma).
One never knows when a friend turns enemy & vice-versa.
Rely on your Self; self-reliance”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (1956) spiritual leader

Life, Law, Nature

“A work of art is never finished. It is merely abandoned.”

E.M. Forster (1879–1970) English novelist

Art

“I dream in fire but work in clay.”

Arthur Machen (1863–1947) Welsh author and mystic

Dreams

“Hey. What is it that famous person said? 'It'll all work out in the end, and if it doesn't, that means it's not the end yet'?”

Lauren Myracle (1969) American children's writer

Source: Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks

Personality

“The sign of the amateur is overglorification of and preoccupation with the mystery. The professional shuts up. She doesn't talk about it. She does her work.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Source: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

“Until we have met the monsters in ourselves, we keep trying to slay them in the outer world. And we find that we cannot. For all darkness in the world stems from darkness in the heart. And it is there that we must do our work.”

Marianne Williamson (1952) American writer

Source: Everyday Grace: Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness And Making Miracles

World, Heart

“You think this is going to work? This peaceful summit thing?”
“Sure,” I said. After a second, I added, “Probably.”
“Probably?”
“Maybe,” I said.
“We’re down to maybe now?”
I shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Jim Butcher book Cold Days

Source: Cold Days

Peace, Thinking

“Sometimes, a lie is told in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the slow, eating agony of a lie is never lost.”

John Steinbeck book East of Eden

Source: East of Eden

Pain, Truth, Lie

“If you end your story, it's a static work of art, a finite circle. But if you don't, it belongs to anyone's imagination. It stays alive forever.”

Jodi Picoult book The Storyteller

Source: The Storyteller

Art, Imagination

“We never had any children," he said ruefully. "Our work was our children.”

Patti Smith Just Kids

Source: Just Kids

Children

“Truly we work and live on a streetful of splendid people, whom we are to love and serve even if they are uninterested in us!”

Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) Mormon leader

Source: The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book

Love, People

“Our love, our love will last forever. It's forever but it just doesn't work. That's why it will always be romantic because it can not be complete.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

Love

“You work three jobs? Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that."

To a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

Source: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Motivational, Deep, Success, Happy

“It only takes one mistake and nothing else you ever do will matter. No matter how hard you work or how smart you become, you'll always be known for that one poor choice.”

Chuck Palahniuk Snuff

Source: Snuff

“(If plan KTB kill the bastard) didn't work, well, gray would resort to Plan B: Operation Oh Sh”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: Jewel of Atlantis

“I just went to work for a vampire, was scared by a spider, and got knocked down by a tanning bomb. And that’s just my day, not my week.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Fade Out

“When you chase a dream, you learn about yourself. You learn your capabilities and limitations, and the value of hard work and persistence.”

Nicholas Sparks (1965) American writer and novelist

Nicholas Sparks, Chapter 11, p. 187
2000s, Three Weeks with My Brother (2004)
Source: Three Weeks With My Brother

Dreams, Learning

“Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.”

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian neurologist known as the founding father of psychoanalysis

Love

“If you start by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work towards getting it.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist

“Simon was still trying to work out how Shadowhunter government and also Shadowhunter family trees worked. They all seemed to be related to each other and it was very disturbing.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy

Family, Tree

“One is happy as a result of one's own efforts, once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness — simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and, above all, a clear conscience.”

George Sand (1804–1876) French novelist and memoirist; pseudonym of Lucile Aurore Dupin

On est heureux par soi-même quand on sait s'y prendre, avoir des goûts simples, un certain courage, une certaine abnégation, l'amour du travail et avant tout une bonne conscience.
Letter to Charles Poney, (16 November 1866), published in Georges Lubin (ed.) Correspondance (Paris: Garnier Freres, 1964-95) vol. 20, p. 188; André Maurois (trans. Gerard Hopkins) Lélia: The Life of George Sand (New York: Harper, 1954) p. 418
Variant: One is happy once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clear conscience.
Source: Correspondance, 1812-1876, Volume 5

Love, Courage, Effort, Happiness

“If your life works, and you work in it, then it’s okay, whatever is happening is okay.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Incubus Dreams

Source: Incubus Dreams

Life

“When friendships are real, they are not glass threads or frost work, but the solidest things we can know.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson book Essays: First Series

Source: Essays: First Series

Friendship

“He made me realize that hard work--that the act of finishing, of completing, of accomplishing a task--is joyous”

Sherman Alexie book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Source: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

“Each man delights in the work that suits him best.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

XIV. 228 (tr. Robert Fagles).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)
Source: The Odyssey

“A working brain is probably a lot like a map, where anybody can get from one place to another on the freeways. It's the nonworking brains that get blocked, that have dead ends, that are under construction like mine.”

Ned Vizzini book It's Kind of a Funny Story

Source: It's Kind of a Funny Story

Dead

“People don't have fortunes left them in that style nowadays; men have to work and women to marry for money. It's a dreadfully unjust world.”

Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) American novelist

Women, Men, Money, People

“Allegiance, after all, has to work two ways; and one can grow weary of an allegiance which is not reciprocal.”

James Baldwin book Nobody Knows My Name

Source: Nobody Knows My Name

Way

“Ask for work. If they don't give you work, ask for bread. If they do not give you work or bread, then take bread.”

Emma Goldman book Anarchism and Other Essays

Source: Anarchism and Other Essays

“Minister: Welcome, brother! Do you reject Satan and all his works?
Bunny Breckinridge: Sure.”

Tim Burton (1958) American filmmaker

“Does anything on you work properly?" Asked ter Borcht.
"Well, I do have a highly developed sense of irony." Replied Iggy.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Sense

“Anxiety, the next gumption trap, is sort of the opposite of ego. You're so sure you'll do everything wrong you're afraid to do anything at all. Often this, rather than "laziness," is the real reason you find it hard to get started. This gumption trap of anxiety, which results from over-motivation, can lead to all kinds of errors of excessive fussiness. You fix things that don't need fixing, and chase after imaginary ailments. You jump to wild conclusions and build all kinds of errors into the machine because of your own nervousness. These errors, when made, tend to confirm your original underestimation of yourself. This leads to more errors, which lead to more underestimation, in a self-stoking cycle. The best way to break this cycle, I think, is to work out your anxieties on paper. Read every book and magazine you can on the subject. Your anxiety makes this easy and the more you read the more you calm down.”

Robert M. Pirsig book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974), Ch. 26
Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

Books, Way, Error, Motivation

“The unfortunate thing about working for yourself is that you have the worst boss in the world. I work every day of the year except at Christmas, when I work a half day.”

David Eddings (1931–2009) American novelist

World, Christmas

“Take your work seriously, but don't take yourself seriously”

Clint Eastwood (1930) actor and director from the United States

“Coach Hedge yelled,“Thar she blows! Kansas, ahoy!”
“Holy Hephaestus,” Leo muttered. “He really needs to work on his shipspeak.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

“Exactly how am I supposed to work in a thank-you in there? Somehow it just won't seem sincere if I'm trying to slit his throat.”

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

Source: The Hunger Games

Sincerity

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

Facebook post, 4/8/15

“All right, the pendulum isn’t working. Sometimes you need an accelerant to help it.” – Death
“Like gasoline?” – Nick
“Yes, Nick. We’re going to set the book and your pendulum on fire and then use them ’cause we’re just that intelligent.” – Death”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Invincible

Death, Books, Intelligence, Help

“Falling in love was simple; one had only to yield. Digesting another person, however, and sustaining love, was bloody work, and not a soft job.”

Hanif Kureishi (1954) English playwright, screenwriter, novelist

Source: Midnight all Day

Love, Personality

“If you act like you can do something, then it will work.”

Walter Isaacson book Steve Jobs

Source: Steve Jobs

“But risk is just part of relationships. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.”

Sarah Dessen Lock and Key

Source: Lock and Key

Parting

“Religious freedom should work two ways: we should be free to practice the religion of our choice, but we must also be free from having someone else's religion practiced on us.”

John Irving (1942) American novelist and screenwriter

Source: My Movie Business: A Memoir

Religion, Way, Freedom

“Seeing a murder on television can … help work off one’s antagonisms. And if you haven’t any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.”

Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) British filmmaker

National Observer (15 August 1966).

Help

“Kyle want to be a rockstar. I think hes working the one-name thing. Like Rihanna."
"I have no idea what you're talking about.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Idea, Thinking

“Things work out the way they're meant to”

Danielle Steel No Greater Love

Source: No Greater Love

Way

“If brute force doesn't work, you aren't using enough”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Styxx

“Hard work is rewarding. Taking credit for other people's hard work is rewarding and faster.”

Scott Adams (1957) cartoonist, writer

Source: Dilbert's Guide to the Rest of Your Life: Dispatches from Cubicleland

People

“I am no more messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)
Context: 11. The Master answered and said "Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.12. "The current of the river swept silently over them all — young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going it's own way, knowing only its own crystal self.13. "Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth.14. "But one creature said at last, 'I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom.'15. "The other creatures laughed and said, 'Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed against the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!'16. "But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks.17. "Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.18. "And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried 'See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah come to save us all!'19. "And the one carried in the current said, "I am no more messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure."20. "But they cried the more, 'Savior!' all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a Savior."