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Quotes about work

220 quotes from 151 people

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Love yields to business. If you seek a way out of love, be busy; you’ll be safe then.
Ovid43 BC–AD 17Remedia Amoris (The Cure for Love), Lines 143–144
- Love
If a man does his best, what else is there?
George S. Patton1885–1945
A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood.
George S. Patton1885–1945
In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
Laurence J. Peter1919–1990The Peter Principle (1969), p. 25: Statement of the Peter Principle
Continued work and application form my soul’s nourishment. So soon as I commenced to rest and relax I should cease to live.
Petrarch1304–1374Letter to Boccaccio (28 April 1373), in Robinson and Rolfe, Petrarch: The First Modern Scholar and Man of Letters (1898)
Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh1921–2021In 1981, in reference to an economic recession, as quoted in “Long line of princely gaffes”, BBC News (1 March 2002).
- Economics
Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.
Pablo Picasso1881–1973
- Inspiration
It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.
Pablo Picasso1881–1973
If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.
Plato429–349 BC
- Men
- Women
The beginning is the most important part of any work.
Plato429–349 BCThe Republic, 377aIn context
Depend upon it, after all, Thomas, Literature is the most noble of professions. In fact, it is about the only one fit for a man. For my own part, there is no seducing me from the path.
Edgar Allan Poe1809–1849“Letter to Frederick W. Thomas” (February 14, 1849).
- Writing
The only thing one can give an artist is leisure in which to work. To give an artist leisure is actually to take part in his creation.
Ezra Pound1885–1972New Age, March 30, 1922. As quoted in Impact: Essays on Ignorance and the Decline of American Civilization edited by Noel Stock, 1960
- Art
Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages.
Terry Pratchett1948–2015Wyrd Sisters (1988)
- Freedom
Competition is a by-product of productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
Ayn Rand1905–1982The Ayn Rand Letter (1971–1976)
- Motivation & Goals
Some people work an entire lifetime and wonder if they ever made a difference to the world. But the Marines don’t have that problem.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004Letter to Lance Cpl. Joe Hickey (23 September 1983), R.W. “Dick” Gaines refers in detail