Famously Said Random quote

Quotes about work

220 quotes from 151 people

Most readBy personPage 14 of 15

WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!
Karl Marx1818–1883The Communist Manifesto (1848)In context
- Politics
A person who has not done one-half his day’s work by ten o’clock, runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.
Emily Brontë1818–1848Wuthering Heights (1847), Chapter VIIIn context
Now I saw, though too late, the folly of beginning a work before we count the cost, and before we judge rightly of our own strength to go through with it.
Daniel Defoe1660–1731Robinson Crusoe (1719), Chapter IXIn context
To business that we love we rise betime
And go to’t with delight.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Antony and Cleopatra (c. 1606), Act IV, Scene IV, spoken by AntonyIn context
- Motivation & Goals
Hal, ’tis my vocation, Hal, ’tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Henry IV, Part 1 (c. 1597), Act I, Scene II, spoken by FalstaffIn context
- Comedy
If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work
William Shakespeare1564–1616Henry IV, Part 1 (c. 1597), Act I, Scene II, spoken by PrinceIn context
- Holidays
Every man’s work, pursued steadily, tends in this way to become an end in itself, and so to bridge over the loveless chasms of his life.
George Eliot1819–1880Silas Marner (1861), Part I, Chapter IIIn context
They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains,” he remarked with a smile. “It’s a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930A Study in Scarlet (1887), Part I, Chapter IIIIn context
- Genius
My mind,” he said, “rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930The Sign of the Four (1890), Chapter IIn context
- Thinking
My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don’t know.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1891–1892), The Adventure of the Blue CarbuncleIn context
- Knowledge
The worker must work for the glory of his handiwork, not simply for pay; the thinker must think for truth, not for fame.
W. E. B. Du Bois1868–1963The Souls of Black Folk (1903), Chapter VIn context
- Fame
The great error in Rip’s composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor.
Washington Irving1783–1859Rip Van Winkle (1819)In context
Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.
Washington Irving1783–1859Rip Van Winkle (1819)In context
- Money
In a word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible.
Washington Irving1783–1859Rip Van Winkle (1819)In context
Personally I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman1860–1935The Yellow Wallpaper (1892)In context
- Health