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Work Quotes

Quotes on the meaning of work.

Several quotes here describe work as a solitary process, one that takes real effort to protect from distraction, while others connect a person's politics directly to the character of their work. Related reading includes Growth Quotes.

If I were to play somebody who ran a fish and chip shop, I would not work in a fish and chip shop for three months. Staring at chips is not going to help me in my performance.

Quotes by Ben Kingsley

Hopefully, as I get older in the business, I make my choices more accurately, and I perhaps know from either the script or the first meeting that it isn't going to work.

Quotes by Ben Kingsley

Well, it's wonderful to be identified strongly with my work.

Quotes by Ben Kingsley

I think people think filmmaking is fun, but I've never thought that. For me it's always been a lot of work and pain and stress.

Quotes by Ben Lewin

It's a wonderful feeling to work in a country where the government's first concern is for its people, for all its people.

Quotes by Ben Linder

The common, the quotidian, is so much more unyielding to me, really stubborn and hard to work with, and I like this because it makes me think and it makes me worry. I can't just plunge my hand into the...

Quotes by Ben Marcus

I work a lot in the summers. My family goes to Maine, where we have a little house. My wife's a writer, too, and we can write for six hours a day and then play with the kids.

Quotes by Ben Marcus

I'm an enormous fan of Thomas Bernhard's books, and I like the relentless feeling in his work - the pursuit of darkness, the negative - and I think in some sense I've internalised that as what one is supposed to...

Quotes by Ben Marcus

I work, and then I leave the office, and I'm with my kids and just sort of enjoy them on a visceral level, and I don't feel like I'm exorcising my own deep ideas about parenthood and about how my...

Quotes by Ben Marcus

My parents showed me by example that they could balance their work and family lives.

Quotes by Ben Marcus

I think there's a lot of mythos about what's required in acting. The way that actors talk about acting is generally quite punishing, and I think actors want to put forward the idea that they do all of this work...

Quotes by Ben Mendelsohn

I wanted to keep working because work was essentially fantastic - you got to be around people, you got to be in a family, and that family changed from job to job. It was like being in the circus.

Quotes by Ben Mendelsohn

My general feeling about approach to work is that anyone that's there, they're all there to do the best job they can.

Quotes by Ben Mendelsohn

Most young actors, that's all they're trying to do: Get better at acting and be able to keep doing it. And that doesn't work out for most people.

Quotes by Ben Mendelsohn

There are always dimensions, and the way they get expressed is through the writing and the actors and the director you get to work with on that day. But there are always dimensions, outside of really basic stuff for very...

Quotes by Ben Mendelsohn

My enthusiasm for L.A. stems from my father, who was a lecturer in American literature at the University of Birmingham. Through his work, our family did several house swaps with L.A. families. It was a dreadfully daring thing to do...

Quotes by Ben Miller

I work out in the Caribbean for half the year, playing a detective who's really into science. Anybody who knows me will tell you that's a dream come true. But it's tough for my family. We only get to see...

Quotes by Ben Miller

I like to think of myself as focused in work, but it probably comes across as obsessive.

Quotes by Ben Miller

For me, one of the things art has to examine is how to live your life, and unless it's doing that, it doesn't work for me.

Quotes by Ben Miller

If I could work with any actor it would have to be Johnny Depp. He is cool.

Quotes by Ben Nicholas

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of quotes are on the "Work" page?
These lean toward the thoughtful side of work — the idea that "intellectual work is essentially a lonely process," the belief that one's politics and "the character of his particular work are inseparable," and an image of people unwinding after work all over the world talking about life's bigger questions.
Is there a spiritual angle to any of these?
While these particular quotes are secular, if you're looking for a spiritual perspective on work, see Prayers for that theme.
Do these quotes connect work to personal identity?
Yes, one of the strongest lines here argues that your politics and "the character of his particular work are inseparable" — the idea that what you do reflects who you are. If that resonates, Growth quotes explore a similar idea of work shaping the person.
Is there anything here about effort or persistence?
These specific quotes focus more on the nature and meaning of work than on effort itself, but Effort quotes cover that ground directly.
What about setting goals through work?
For that angle, Goal quotes is the better fit — the "Work" page here is more about the character and process of working itself.

There's also a lighter side - people unwinding after work to talk through life's bigger questions over drinks. See Effort Quotes and Goal Quotes for more on getting things done.