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.

I still suffer terribly from stage fright. I get sick with fear. Not every night, but at the beginning and on occasion - not necessarily when I'm expecting it. You just have to cope with it - take it on...

Quotes by Helen Mirren

I think we all have a dream of what it would be like not to work and grow heirloom tomatoes, and I do have that dream. It would be lovely. I do love gardening and all of that, but I...

Quotes by Helen Mirren

I believe in meditation - it's a good tool to centre yourself, but unfortunately, I'm too lazy to do it. It's very hard work, and I prefer to watch 'Nothing To Declare' on TV!

Quotes by Helen Mirren

I do tend to feel more connected to dead writers, perhaps because they have finished their work.

Quotes by Helen Oyeyemi

Don't define yourself by your mistakes or by the single thing you are at your work.

Quotes by Heidi Roizen

Do deals with the people you want to work with, and the success will follow.

Quotes by Heidi Roizen

Between 1950 and 1951, I worked as a temporary employee in the Cologne Bureau of Statistics. From summer 1951 on, I have lived as a freelance writer with a fixed postal address in Cologne but with a continually shifting place...

Quotes by Heinrich Boll

End of the sixties, Keith Blazey interested me to work on GdAlO3, an antiferromagnet on which he had done optic experiments. This started a fruitful cooperation on magnetic phase diagrams, which eventually brought me into the field of critical phenomena.

Quotes by Heinrich Rohrer

No, this customary aim of research by excavators is completely foreign to the historical work with which I am occupied... my sole and only aim is to be able to establish a historical fact, on which I disagree with some...

Quotes by Heinrich Schliemann

I've been round Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and China in the last few months and the message that I've been taking is that New Zealand is building an up market dynamic into a connected economy. And that we are not...

Quotes by Helen Clark

I think the issue of North Korea is one where the international community as a whole has to work to resolve the crisis.

Quotes by Helen Clark

There is also a marked global trend towards sustainable agriculture, building on traditional methods which use fewer chemical inputs, carefully manage soil and water resources, and work hand-in-hand with nature.

Quotes by Helen Clark

If an actor only comes alive when he has lines to say, it doesn't work, and the same goes for illustrated characters.

Quotes by Helen Craig

Everything you do off the pitch always shows so you have to work on yourself physically as well, it's not just working on your touch.

Quotes by Hector Bellerin

You know, a low budget, you have to work harder. You have to plan well; you don't have much time to rehearse.

Quotes by Hector Elizondo

On those, I've said it before, I work free. It's the waiting they pay me for.

Quotes by Hector Elizondo

I'm a parent, especially when you've had the intense parenting the way I had. It's all in the bank. It's all in the great experience bank. Those are your secrets. That's the stuff that makes your work rich, that's what...

Quotes by Hector Elizondo

I work with Garry no matter what. What I wanted to keep going was the streak.

Quotes by Hector Elizondo

I used to work, part time, in a deli, in those days when your parents made you work just so you should know what work was like. And you'd make 4, 5, 6, ten dollars.

Quotes by Hector Elizondo

I started in radio, again accidentally. I wasn't looking for this kind of work at all.

Quotes by Hector Elizondo

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.