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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.

I'd like to show people that if you put the hard work in and you believe in yourself, then you can do whatever you want to.

Quotes by Oscar Pistorius

I try to work on my defense every game, every practice.

Quotes by Oscar Taveras

I work very hard at my game.

Quotes by Oscar Taveras

All that's left now is purely poetic work, putting more life into individual places, as I've made so sure of the fundamental mood and dimension of expression that it won't leave me groping around in uncertainty any more.

Quotes by Oskar Kokoschka

I thank my personal staff for their restless sacrifice for my work.

Quotes by Oskar Schindler

Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden.

Quotes by Orson Scott Card

My favourite all-time work of fiction: Lord of the Rings. My favourite all-time nonfiction book: Guns, Germs, and Steel. Ask me again next week, you'll get a different answer.

Quotes by Orson Scott Card

But in the meantime I became accustomed to the writing life and it would be hard to change now - partly because of the salary cut if I went to my other love, teaching; and partly because I still have...

Quotes by Orson Scott Card

I do not suppose I shall be remembered for anything. But I don't think about my work in those terms. It is just as vulgar to work for the sake of posterity as to work for the sake of money.

Quotes by Orson Welles

I'm a provincial. I live very much like a hermit: reading, listening to music, working in the cutting room, writing, commercial work - which doesn't take up that much time.

Quotes by Orson Welles

When television came along, I'd already done more than 10 years of radio work and I thought everyone would want me. I sat around waiting for the phone to ring - and it didn't.

Quotes by Orson Welles

The ability to do this so quickly was largely due to the enthusiastic and efficient services of Mr. C.E. Taylor, who did all the machine work in our shop for the first as well as the succeeding experimental machines.

Quotes by Orville Wright

I wish I had not believed that my work would speak for itself; the working world requires a bit more than that.

Quotes by Ory Okolloh

Ninety percent of my mentors have been male, most of them with very little in common with me on a personal level - from life experience, work experience, backgrounds, etc.

Quotes by Ory Okolloh

I want my work at Google to have a long-term impact on the tech scene in Africa and to result in millions more Africans not just going online but having an amazing experience once they do. That's what drives me...

Quotes by Ory Okolloh

All of us salute the ITU's excellent work in the telecommunications space. It has set standards which encourage investment in infrastructure and ensure that a call made from Europe or America connects smoothly in Kenya or anywhere in the world.

Quotes by Ory Okolloh

I wanted this, I wanted to do this, but my work is me, and it has to be right.

Quotes by Oscar de la Renta

Peace is not the product of a victory or a command. It has no finishing line, no final deadline, no fixed definition of achievement. Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions.

Quotes by Oscar Hammerstein II

If you do not feel yourself growing in your work and your life broadening and deepening, if your task is not a perpetual tonic to you, you have not found your place.

Quotes by Orison Swett Marden

You have not found your place until all your faculties are roused, and your whole nature consents and approves of the work you are doing.

Quotes by Orison Swett Marden

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.