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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 had to weave and play around with a honey bear, you know, and I could wrestle with him a little bit, but there's no way you can even wrestle a honey bear, let alone a grizzly bear that's standing...

Quotes by Leslie Nielsen

What goes up must come down; I'm not going to be in 'Hamilton' forever. Everything I work on won't have this kind of success.

Quotes by Leslie Odom, Jr.

If you wish at once to do nothing and be respectable nowadays, the best pretext is to be at work on some profound study.

Quotes by Leslie Stephen

I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to participate in that work as a representative of my country, Canada, whose people have, I think, shown their devotion to peace.

Quotes by Lester B. Pearson

I don't care what your politics are, I would wager that if you asked any American woman which administration would she have most liked to work for as social secretary, she would pick Jacqueline Kennedy's White House as the place...

Quotes by Letitia Baldrige

Manners make the world work. They're not only based on kindness but also efficiency. When people know what to do, the world is smoother. When no one knows what to do, it's chaos.

Quotes by Letitia Baldrige

When writing a thank-you if you've had lunch with someone downtown, send an e-mail. If somebody is giving you a dinner party in his or her home and all the work that takes, that person deserves a written thank-you.

Quotes by Letitia Baldrige

I've been lucky enough to work with extraordinary teachers along the way, and I'm excited to share what I've learned with graduate students at SNHU. I'm just as excited for what I'll learn from them.

Quotes by Leslie Jamison

There's something about that puritanical narrative of progress and upward mobility and work ethic that the glorification of abstinence fits pretty neatly into. That pairs with the fact that 12-step recovery has had too large a monopoly on how treatment...

Quotes by Leslie Jamison

I'd like to thank the BBC for allowing me to work here. And I'd like to thank the wife and kids for making it necessary.

Quotes by Les Dawson

We go in there and we work on altering those ideas and in many cases go in different directions.

Quotes by Les Paul

I have younger friends who don't work, and they aren't doing so well. My secret is to keep going, keep working.

Quotes by Les Paul

As an entrepreneur, you work out solutions.

Quotes by Les Wexner

A woman at the Limited once asked me, 'Why do you work?' She said, 'You made a lot of money as a young man, so why are you still working?' I had never thought about it before. Forced to consider...

Quotes by Les Wexner

I don't think most analysts understand that whether I work a 70-hour week or an 80-hour week, I take my head with me when I go home.

Quotes by Les Wexner

I know that some people work differently, but I have to work from the inside out. It doesn't matter how big the character is, there has to be a truthful core.

Quotes by Lesley Ann Warren

Good work is good work wherever it is.

Quotes by Lesley Ann Warren

I'm quite chameleon in my work - not normally looking much like I do in real life.

Quotes by Lesley Manville

There isn't a spare minute in the day. I have spent my life doing everything. I work. I go home. I do the shopping. I cook. Then there's the laundry and the dog. Most of my life, I have been...

Quotes by Lesley Manville

When I make films, I work with Mike Leigh, who's the most prolific director in England.

Quotes by Lesley Manville

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.