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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.

When I'm talking about the white working class, here's what I'm defining: high school degree, no more, and working in a blue-collar job or a low-skilled service job. When I'm talking about the white, upper-middle class, I'm talking about people...

Quotes by Charles Murray

People are voluntarily giving money to A.E.I. - there is no government money - because they think the work we do is valuable.

Quotes by Charles Murray

Here's the secret you should remember whenever you hear someone lamenting how tough it is to get ahead in the postindustrial global economy: Few people work nearly as hard as they could.

Quotes by Charles Murray

Capricorns like to stay in one place. I have to go to work in places like New York, but basically, I don't want to go anywhere. One time, I got a trip around the world for doing something on television,...

Quotes by Charles Nelson Reilly

The biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment over and over and to keep on trying and failing until he learns what will work.

Quotes by Charles Kettering

We often say that the biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee to fail intelligently... to experiment over and over again and to keep on trying and failing until he learns what will work.

Quotes by Charles Kettering

Have thy tools ready. God will find thee work.

Quotes by Charles Kingsley

Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know.

Quotes by Charles Kingsley

Newt Gingrich had to work hard - getting Republican candidates to sign the Contract with America - to nationalize the election that swept Republicans to victory in 1994. A Democratic anti-Tea Party campaign would do that for the Republicans -...

Quotes by Charles Krauthammer

I began my journalistic career on the day Ronald Reagan was sworn in. That's the day I showed up for work at 'The New Republic' magazine.

Quotes by Charles Krauthammer

Ideas matter. Legislative proposals matter. Slick campaigns and dazzling speeches can work for a while, but the magic always wears off.

Quotes by Charles Krauthammer

I can't say that I've changed anybody's life, ever, and that's the real work of the world, if you want a better society.

Quotes by Charles Kuralt

I recognize that I had a good deal of good luck in my life. I came along at a time when it was pretty easy to get a job in journalism. I went to work at CBS News when I...

Quotes by Charles Kuralt

I think all those people I did stories about measured their own success by the joy their work was giving them.

Quotes by Charles Kuralt

Since my retirement, I've spent a lot of time trying to help the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina. A society like this just can't afford an uneducated underclass of citizens.

Quotes by Charles Kuralt

Remember that you are needed. There is at least one important work to be done that will not be done unless you do it.

Quotes by Charles L. Allen

We don't really want to work for a corporation; however, we do aspire to one day make a barbecue sauce that doubles as a cologne, and we would like to promote that ourselves. We would like to create a cologne...

Quotes by Charles Lincoln Neal

It's wonderful doing concerts in places like New York and London, but I feel a responsibility to also bring my work home, to bring world-class, classical music to Somerset.

Quotes by Charles Hazlewood

Our first remark on this subject is that the ministry is an office, and not merely a work.

Quotes by Charles Hodge

Nuclear deterrence doesn't work outside of the Russian - U.S. context; Saddam Hussein showed that.

Quotes by Charles Horner

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.