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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.

My dad never missed a day of work, and he was always smiling when he came home.

Quotes by Patty Loveless

In my own work, I've tried to anticipate what's coming over the horizon, to hasten its arrival, and to apply it to people's lives in a meaningful way.

Quotes by Paul Allen

I grew up around books. When I first held the book and it was a substantive, tangible thing, and I thought of all the work that went into it, not just my work but everybody else's and the research and...

Quotes by Paul Allen

In the computer industry, you've got an interdisciplinary team of people who can come together, attack the problem, and work in a collaborative style. You knock down one problem after another, cobble things together, and then hopefully turn the crank...

Quotes by Paul Allen

I was always interested in French poetry sort of as a sideline to my own work, I was translating contemporary French poets. That kind of spilled out into translation as a way to earn money, pay for food and put...

Quotes by Paul Auster

That work led to the emergence of the recombinant DNA technology thereby providing a major tool for analyzing mammalian gene structure and function and formed the basis for me receiving the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Quotes by Paul Berg

Sure, you can do something frothy and ridiculous, but you should probably be confident that it's going to be a sure-fire hit. Then it's sensible, because it enables you to make smaller movies. But if you make something frothy and...

Quotes by Paul Bettany

Film used to have to be niche and find its audience in a little art house cinema, and TV had to work for everybody. And now it's kind of flipped where there's so many platforms that TV can be incredibly...

Quotes by Paul Bettany

My real priorities were my family - my kids and Bruce - and my work with the E Street Band.

Quotes by Patti Scialfa

No, my work does not reflect my sexual preferences, it reflects the fact that I feel total freedom as an artist.

Quotes by Patti Smith

People have the power to redeem the work of fools.

Quotes by Patti Smith

The issue of gender was never my biggest concern; my biggest concern was doing good work. When the feminist movement really got going, I wasn't an active part of it because I was more concerned with my own mental pursuits.

Quotes by Patti Smith

As long as women are in the work force making their own money and decisions, men are going to have to realize that this way of life is here to stay - because it takes two incomes to make it...

Quotes by Patti Stanger

The best part about being a matchmaker is you are getting credits in heaven, as I really believe I work for God. The worst part is that matchmakers can often fix everyone up, all the way to the altar, but...

Quotes by Patti Stanger

I am not one of those people who lives for work. I enjoy sculpting and photography and tennis and swimming. I simply do not have enough time. My life is not in control.

Quotes by Pattie Maes

All the truly great stand-ups say, 'I go onstage, and I work on jokes. The inspiration will happen while I'm doing my work.' To me, in the end, the surest thing is work.

Quotes by Patton Oswalt

Music doesn't have to be fancy. I work hard and enjoy the fact that people want to come to my shows. That's simple, but I'm pretty blue-collar about it.

Quotes by Patty Griffin

One of the things that I have learned in the last few years is to stop being so damn critical of my own work.

Quotes by Patty Griffin

I know that I'm carrying a bit of a weight on my shoulders of what I do represents more than just myself as a director. I wish that wasn't true, but it is. It makes me think about doing work...

Quotes by Patty Jenkins

Red Interactive, the digital advertising agency, is a real, systemic kind of business, as opposed to a one-off thing. We can help advertisers frustrated by old media find clients they can work with.

Quotes by Patrick Whitesell

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.