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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.

As I noted in my Nobel lecture, an early insight in my work on the economics of information concerned the problem of appropriability - the difficulty that those who pay for information have in getting returns.

Quotes by Joseph Stiglitz

I don't think we can have democracies that work where most of the people are not benefiting economically, where most of the people are worried about their job security.

Quotes by Joseph Stiglitz

The diversity of Europe is its strength. But for a single currency to work, over a region with enormous economic and political diversity, is not easy.

Quotes by Joseph Stiglitz

To work hard. To open new doors for our kids, for our grandkids. To renew our spirit. That's what America is about.

Quotes by Joseph M. Kyrillos

We've got nine generations of farmers in my family, in Warwickshire. And I do feel connected to being a farmer's son. There was a time when I didn't, when I rebelled against it, but there's certainly that sort of work...

Quotes by Joseph Mawle

I grew up in a farming family. I hated cleaning out the chickens but loved hatching them and feeding the new born sheep. The smell of hot milk still has a special resonance for me. Harvest was back-breaking work, though......

Quotes by Joseph Mawle

Work is a prayer. And I start off every morning dedicating it to our Creator.

Quotes by Joseph Murray

Our people are unemployed and anxious to work for the food which foreigners can give us.

Quotes by Joseph Hume

I would say readers can trust my work more than anyone else's.

Quotes by Joseph J. Ellis

I did my undergraduate work at the University of California when it was still affordable. But tuition keeps on rising.

Quotes by Joseph DeRisi

When I came to University of California, San Francisco to work on infectious disease, I looked around to different options, and malaria was particularly interesting and fascinating to me. It's amazing that after 100 years of study of this little...

Quotes by Joseph DeRisi

The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military. Indirect may not be a full characterization of the way it is. It's more of a direct benefit to the Chinese military.

Quotes by Joseph Dunford

When I was a teenager I loved acting, but I really just loved it for myself. I didn't like the fact that anyone else saw the work I was doing. When I moved to New York, I started to realize...

Quotes by Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I didn't want to just work within Hollywood when I started a production company. I wanted to be able to collaborate with great artists from all over the world.

Quotes by Joseph Gordon-Levitt

After all, it is hard to master both life and work equally well. So if you are bound to fake one of them, it had better be life.

Quotes by Joseph Brodsky

From my teenage years on, I sought out Native elders from many tribal nations and listened to their words. I also started a small press, The Greenfield Review Press, and became very involved with publishing the work of other American...

Quotes by Joseph Bruchac

Any work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line.

Joseph Conrad

I don't like work... but I like what is in work - the chance to find yourself. Your own reality - for yourself, not for others - which no other man can ever know.

Joseph Conrad

Some great men owe most of their greatness to the ability of detecting in those they destine for their tools the exact quality of strength that matters for their work.

Joseph Conrad

I've always put myself intensely into my work.

Quotes by Josefina Vazquez Mota

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.