Logo - Feel The Words

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.

Every day I work my guts out in training, every match I play my heart out.

Quotes by Ruud van Nistelrooy

When it comes to losing with United, I feel solely responsible for it. I can't help it. My brain will work like mad after a defeat. I want to know where I have made the wrong decisions, how I could...

Quotes by Ruud van Nistelrooy

Film work is a job I like to do because I really love to solve problems.

Quotes by Ry Cooder

There definitely isn't a structure anymore to how I get ideas. A lot of times I'll just write down a phrase, or I'll have an idea that's attached to just a few chords. Other times, it's work.

Quotes by Ryan Adams

I've tried to work as hard as possible.

Quotes by Ryan Babel

There are plenty of players who have a lot of talent. It's all about getting the best out of yourself and you'll have to work very hard to achieve that.

Quotes by Ryan Babel

Simple genome engineering of bacteria and yeast is just the beginning of the rise of the true biohackers. This is a community of several thousand people, with skill sets ranging from self-taught software hackers to biology postdocs who are impatient...

Quotes by Ryan Bethencourt

When you work with directors who really love actors, who love their contribution, it feels amazing. But sometimes when you work with directors, you feel like you're in the way.

Quotes by Ruth Negga

What's really important is the people, first of all. I like working with people who are kind, above all else. I don't really want to work with someone who will manipulate me. The idea that you must treat actors a...

Quotes by Ruth Negga

I don't believe that directors need to essentially manipulate actors into doing things. You can suffer for your art, and you can make your own self suffer for your art. You don't need anyone else to do it for you....

Quotes by Ruth Negga

Are you really going to see Lewis? One of the few people it's worth getting excited over, I think. I know he is a good poet. I daresay he never heard of me, but I wish you would tell him...

Quotes by Ruth Pitter

One of the biggest problems women have is they work really hard and put their heads down and assume hard work gets noticed. And hard work for the wrong boss does not get noticed. Hard work for the wrong boss...

Quotes by Ruth Porat

If you're just focused on work, my view is that you'll never get enough back from any organization, no matter how fantastic the role is, and you have to have a full life so that you really get enriched in...

Quotes by Ruth Porat

I don't find writing easy. That is because I do take great care: I rewrite a lot. If anything is sort of clumsy and not possible to read aloud to oneself, which I think one should do... it doesn't work.

Quotes by Ruth Rendell

I have no regrets about my work. To be a photographer was a gift of the gods. I can't imagine anything that would have been better.

Quotes by Ruth Bernhard

I feel that is more important than my work, the influence I have on my students.

Quotes by Ruth Bernhard

I'm only ambitious in the sense that I want to work in as many different media as I can and to play characters which are different to me and to each other. I want to do work that frightens me...

Quotes by Ruth Bradley

I didn't know my mother was an actress until I was eight and she went back to work. At an even younger age than that, I'd wanted to be an actress, so when I saw her, I clearly remember thinking,...

Quotes by Ruth Bradley

If you're aware of a pattern, you can do something about it, and you can be aware of your own culpability. I like to think I can do that, but, like everyone else, I'm a work in progress.

Quotes by Ruth Bradley

I think when you work with older actors, who are so good, it's rare that they are egotistical.

Quotes by Ruth Bradley

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.