Logo - Feel The Words

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.

When I was growing up, my dad was away a lot. He did a lot of work in crisis zones, places like Uganda or Rwanda.

Quotes by Joe Alwyn

When I got engaged to be married, it was assumed that I would quit science and be a housewife. It was considered shameful if a married woman had to work - it implied that her husband couldn't earn enough to...

Quotes by Jocelyn Bell Burnell

I would always get a lot of work as a writer, but that wasn't what I wanted to be. For me, I was only doing half of what I really wanted to do - write and direct.

Quotes by Jocelyn Moorhouse

If it gets to the Supreme Court, I'll have the directors of every museum in the country as expert testimony that my work is legitimate art.

Quotes by Jock Sturges

I've had to relearn how I work with people so that if and when I do avoid different things I don't send any messages in doing so.

Quotes by Jock Sturges

Any artist that's involved in their work is inevitably going to have a focus in what they do.

Quotes by Jock Sturges

That dichotomy between the public consumption of the work and my intent and practice in making it is an uneasy one for me, on occasion.

Quotes by Jock Sturges

When I started doing my work years ago, I had doubts as to whether the informed-consent question was answerable.

Quotes by Jock Sturges

Don't think in the morning. That's a big mistake that people make. They wake up in the morning and they start thinking. Don't think. Just execute the plan. The plan is the alarm clock goes off, you get up, you...

Quotes by Jocko Willink

The pace is different on a film set. It's slightly slower, allowing for a little more wiggle room. Sometimes there is a bit more room to explore and work on the floor. On a TV set, you really have to...

Quotes by Jodi Balfour

Evangelical Christian politicians who cheat often raise questions about hypocrisy, especially if they preached piety in public and disregarded it in private. When Jewish politicians fall, they shatter different expectations, particularly that American Jews need to work together to preserve...

Quotes by Jodi Kantor

I have several writer friends, but I don't involve them in my work process. I'm more likely to talk about the business of publishing with them.

Quotes by Jodi Picoult

Writing is total grunt work. A lot of people think it's all about sitting and waiting for the muse. I don't buy that. It's a job. There are days when I really want to write, days when I don't. Every...

Quotes by Jodi Picoult

Managers, regardless of salary, should not be allowed to earn or use comp time. They are expected to work as many hours as needed to get the job done - especially at these salary levels.

Quotes by Jodi Rell

We continue to fight for good jobs that pay well and jobs that last. Helping to get folks back to work is about helping them to regain their dignity and pride. That's what families care about.

Quotes by Jodi Rell

While it can be pleasurable to move speedily through a work of fiction, there's a different sort of pleasure to be had in lingering, backtracking, rereading the same page.

Quotes by Joanna Scott

The past is full of examples of renegade writers who were overlooked in their time not only because their work didn't fit neatly into potted categories but also because they avoided the self-promotional efforts of their peers.

Quotes by Joanna Scott

I feel there has to be a certain amount of improvisation as I'm writing, which means any idea or any commitment to a project is risky. It involves time; it involves gathering of material, and sometimes it just doesn't work....

Quotes by Joanna Scott

If you want something you can have it, but you have to do some work. It's the ethic my mother brought me up with.

Quotes by Joanne Harris

When I was 13, I read 'Et la paix dans le monde, Docteur?' a physician's account of working with Medecins Sans Fontieres during the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. It was this book that inspired me to work for MSF.

Quotes by Joanne Liu

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.