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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.

Well, I don't really concern myself too much with what other people make of my work.

Quotes by P. J. Harvey

I think that's always very valuable: to keep the mind open to receiving all sorts of information, which can then be used in my work, but also just as a human being.

Quotes by P. J. Harvey

You can ask me anything you like about my work, but I'll never talk about myself.

Quotes by P. L. Travers

It's not just that the lows make the highs more meaningful. They actually help you figure stuff out. You have to work out where you went wrong and what you need to do to get better.

Quotes by Owen Farrell

The perks of working in Japan are that you might go for two weeks every three or four months, so you do work an abbreviated schedule. But you really make up for the abbreviated schedule by how hard you have...

Quotes by Owen Hart

Capitalism has proved its ability to adapt: at a time when so many younger people quite legitimately feel that the economic system doesn't work for them, big business appealing to their sense of idealism is a savvy move.

Quotes by Owen Jones

Because so many employers refuse to pay their workers a wage on which they can live - most Britons languishing below the poverty line are in work - the state has to spend billions of pounds a year on in-work...

Quotes by Owen Jones

Modern capitalism is based on a myth: that thriving private entrepreneurs generate wealth through their own hard work, innovation and get-up-and-go.

Quotes by Owen Jones

But cutting the working week would free the individual, giving millions of workers more time to spend as they see fit. Human freedom should be the core aim of modern socialism. The right to work less would be an act...

Quotes by Owen Jones

If you've never lived outside London, and if you've always had a car, it's difficult to understand how dire bus services undermine your standard of living: from being able to get to work, meet friends in the pub, get the...

Quotes by Owen Jones

The bereaved are often treated badly. There is no statutory paid bereavement leave, with the emotionally stunned often compelled to work within days of losing a loved one.

Quotes by Owen Jones

The liberation of workers from excessive work was one of the pioneering demands of the labour movement.

Quotes by Owen Jones

We have to use every tool at our disposal and that's why we're trialing a badger cull. We need healthy wildlife living alongside healthy cattle. Only if we work to eradicate the reservoir of TB in our badgers, will we...

Quotes by Owen Paterson

I think the way it works is that when you're casting a movie, you usually want to work with people that you believe in.

Quotes by Owen Wilson

May the work for the further development of chemical science, which has its strongest roots in this beautiful, strong and hard-working country of Sweden, continue to flourish in the future, for the promotion of culture and the benefit of mankind.

Quotes by Otto Wallach

It is hard work to be good when you are very little and very hungry, and have many sticks to beat you, and no mother's lips to kiss you.

Quotes by Ouida

The Liga is a tough league, but I'm inspired by players like Neymar and Messi. You have to work very hard to reproduce what they do, especially Neymar.

Quotes by Ousmane Dembele

I still have to work on my cardio because I get tired very quickly. At Barcelona, I have a better lifestyle. At Dortmund, I didn't have a great lifestyle, and I didn't get injured, so it's not that.

Quotes by Ousmane Dembele

I work in a business of extremes, so when you are with someone who is very calm and logical, it's a great kind of balance to have.

Quotes by Owain Yeoman

It's insane that people have these Internet identities. It has very little to do with who we really are. As a writer, who I'm friends with, how I spend my time, what I look like, what I wear, what I...

Quotes by Ottessa Moshfegh

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.