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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.

In film work, you do the best you can under the given circumstances, but you don't have control. At least, I don't.

Quotes by Michael Schoeffling

I knew from experience at the Negro Ensemble Company that it wasn't until there was a place controlled by black artists... that Pulitzer Prize-winning work like 'Ceremonies in Dark Old Men' and 'A Soldier's Play' came to fruition.

Quotes by Michael Schultz

I have what you might call the South Pole and the North Pole. I have my team and my work, which I do on one side, and I have my family and my home on the other side. Both have...

Quotes by Michael Schumacher

You know, if it doesn't work, we can always cut it.

Quotes by Michael Shanks

I'm a performer. I push the envelope, I work in a very uncontrolled manner onstage. I do a lot of free association, it's spontaneous, I go into character.

Quotes by Michael Richards

My mother and father were supportive. But in an Italian family, you kind of work with your hands, or you are an engineer or a doctor. But an actor was something they couldn't get hold of. They were afraid I...

Quotes by Michael Rispoli

That's what I play - blue-collar Italian-Americans. You got to be typecast in order to work. I've been blessed.

Quotes by Michael Rispoli

I went into this job to do plays, but that's here for 10 weeks, and the rest of the year I do a lot of other things-the administrative work of planning, reading plays.

Quotes by Michael Ritchie

Everybody you work with has their own voice, and if you do your job well enough, even their closest friends or their partner of 40 years isn't going to recognise the fingerprints of a ghostwriter.

Quotes by Michael Robotham

Most important for the circadian field was the pioneering work of Ron Konopka in Seymour's lab.

Quotes by Michael Rosbash

I won't start quite at the beginning... but the emigration of my parents from Nazi Germany and their new life in the U.S.A. A one sentence summary of these events is that after some years of trouble and considerable hard...

Quotes by Michael Rosbash

Shift work, where the body clock is continuously changed, is really deleterious on many levels - from psychology to physiology.

Quotes by Michael Rosbash

Every hour I spent on manual work, every hour I was humiliated in England or degraded has helped me because that's the same way other people feel in the townships here. People are still walking long distances and are working...

Quotes by Michael Sata

To be a parent, you must be authoritarian. If the Zambians want to succeed, they must learn to work hard, and they should not expect to be treated with kid gloves.

Quotes by Michael Sata

I'm really puzzled by why people in societies find it difficult to work collaboratively together with other people in societies.

Quotes by Michael Porter

I teach in the medical school, the School of Public Health, the Kennedy School of Government, and the Business School. And it's the best perch... because most of my work crosses boundaries.

Quotes by Michael Porter

Millennials are more aware of society's many challenges than previous generations and less willing to accept maximizing shareholder value as a sufficient goal for their work. They are looking for a broader social purpose and want to work somewhere that...

Quotes by Michael Porter

Conservatives are wary of change. We have respect for things that have lasted a long time and have been proved to work. When things need changing, we should make the changes with respect to all the reasons why those things...

Quotes by Michael Portillo

Being isolated and on-location can be helpful in terms of being completely dedicated to the work, but somebody like me can also be dangerous in terms of this intense sort of void that you kind of potentially fall into.

Quotes by Michael Raymond-James

It's so interesting to watch Ben Stiller work because he just knows what's funny.

Quotes by Michael Pena

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.