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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.

Self-government won't work without self-discipline.

Quotes by Paul Harvey

When America's early pioneers first turned their eyes toward the West, they did not demand that somebody take care of them if they got ill or got old. They did not demand maximum pay for minimum work, and even pay...

Quotes by Paul Harvey

Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.

Quotes by Paul Hawken

It is possible for the assembly-line worker consigned to tightening the bolts on the transmission and the office worker who processes medical insurance claims to work with pride and efficiency, but it's not easy to maintain that attitude.

Quotes by Paul Hawken

We have the capacity to create a remarkably different economy: one that can restore ecosystems and protect the environment while bringing forth innovation, prosperity, meaningful work, and true security.

Quotes by Paul Hawken

Shane Douglas's work in the first 11 months as The Franchise of ECW was so groundbreaking. He made people forget about his on-air persona in WCW and successfully reinvented himself as The Franchise in ECW.

Quotes by Paul Heyman

Brock Lesnar and I have a very unique chemistry. It works. It's worked since 2002; it will continue to work any time we are presented together.

Quotes by Paul Heyman

Nobody's a natural. You work to get good and then work to get better. It's hard to stay on top.

Quotes by Paul Gallico

I thought I did well for someone who has been out for 10 or 11 months. Then I was sub against Liverpool and tried to play for the guys and work on my fitness.

Quotes by Paul Gascoigne

I think me making the Select Team was huge. It was the chance for me to be around those guys and see their work ethic and how they prepare. I think that's what I took the most away from it.

Quotes by Paul George

It'd be disingenuous to say I don't like attention - I'm an actor for God's sake - and it's flattering and all, but attention was never my big goal. I just like to work and have a good time.

Quotes by Paul Giamatti

Of course, I'm a guitar player, so I'm thinking as a guitarist. I have to work within my physical limitations as to what my hands will do, and also the patterns I'm familiar with, and the places that my fingers...

Quotes by Paul Gilbert

When you record an album in six days, you don't have time to work out a lot of stuff.

Quotes by Paul Gilbert

A scale is just the notes that are in a chord played one at a time instead of together. That's what has allowed me to go through the possible notes that work with a chord and make choices about which...

Quotes by Paul Gilbert

I am honored to have heard from so many voters, supporters, and local elected officials who have been pleased with the work I have done on their behalf. They want and deserve a leader who will aggressively pursue strong conservative...

Quotes by Paul Gosar

I will continue to ask the president and his subordinates to work with Congress rather than against it.

Quotes by Paul Gosar

I'm always worried about the sitter - are they cold, are they hot, are they comfortable? Photography today is so accurate and so good that it's really so much easier just to take photographs and work from them.

Quotes by Paul Emsley

The corncob was the central object of my life. My father was a horse handler, first trotting and pacing horses, then coach horses, then work horses, finally saddle horses. I grew up around, on, and under horses, fed them, shoveled...

Quotes by Paul Engle

I'm extremely, extremely lucky to be who I am and do what I do and work with the people I work with. Even though I can always find something to complain about, I find it very hard to complain.

Quotes by Paul Feig

I'm kind of a failure. I mean, I'll be honest. I'm successful in that I'm getting to work on great stuff, but I think I'm a failure in all the personal stuff that is most important to me.

Quotes by Paul Feig

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.