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“The Romans well knew how to enrich their language without applying themselves to the labour of translation. They imitated the best Greek authors, transforming themselves into them, devouring them, and after having well digested them, converting them into blood and tissue. In like manner we must imitate the Greeks and Latins.”
Joachim du Bellay (1522–1560) first seen 1549 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Défense et illustration de la langue françoise (1549). Qtd. by Irma Dreyfus, Lectures on French Literature, Tr. James Smith (1896), p. 97
“Old scenes to visit, and old dreams to dream, Shall not to us a task of labour seem.”
Nicholas Michell (1807–1880) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ruins of Many Lands, 2nd ed. (1850), Introductory Stanza
“Oh, road, daughter of all our labour, lead me to the white man!”
Ferdinand Oyono (1929–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And why are they better Christians along the roads, unless it's because they are constantly exposed to the exactions of soldiers and chiefs, or the demands of forced labour? Here they know nothing of all these woes. If God would only send them a warning.”
Mongo Beti (1932–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He has related the great deeds of the Portuguese, but whether he witnessed them, as he pretends, or has merely profited by the labour of another, I am unable to state. Vivat et ipse marte suo.”
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera (1457–1526) said by 1526 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Second Decade, Book VII (Tr. F. A. MacNutt, 1912), of Aloisió Cadamosto
“Because whether it's Labour, Reform, or the Lib Dems – votes for these pie-in-the-sky parties is a vote for La La Land fantasy politics which will only take the country backwards. And we cannot afford that.”
Robert Jenrick (born 1982) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conservative Party is the natural home of Reform voters", The Mail on Sunday (23 June [2024]), as reproduced in archive save on Jenrick's website.
“Women have the right to play an active role in the labour market; we have to give women an equal opportunity to get the education, skills and the knowledge that will help them fully participate in the economic sphere.”
Sahar Nasr (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Women and girls must have equal access to education, skills development, the labour force, political participation and all social services if we really want to be inclusive.”
Sahar Nasr (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Under apartheid, this exploitation was magnified to a grotesque degree. Apartheid policies entrenched their subjugation, ensuring their labour was extracted under conditions of extreme racial and economic disparity”
Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Twenty-thousand interns will shortly be appointed as labour inspectors to ensure that businesses are complying with employment equity legislation.”
Nomakhosazana Meth wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The act promotes the concept of sustainable development in that it requires that social, economic and environmental factors are integrated in the planning of mines. Such an approach will require the development and implementation of appropriate social and labour plans as well as sustainable environmental management plans.”
Susan Shabangu (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The role of women has always been far more than the reproductive labour that all seem to think is simply what women should do in times of struggle”
Sharon Letlape wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I knew that most of my shadow cabinet colleagues didn’t support me at all, and probably most of the PLP [parliamentary Labour party].” Why not? “I think some of them probably thought I shouldn’t have been deputy anyway, a mere woman”
Margaret Beckett (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was positive that the Labour party had much too much sense to elect him”
Margaret Beckett (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Parents who let children roam the streets contravene Section 81 of the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act (2010) which attracts a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment with hard labour.”
Patricia Kaliati (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The problem nowadays is that many students are without skills, and after graduation, they will begin to go all around the streets looking for white-collar jobs. They must learn skills so that when they graduate, they will be able to open up their own businesses and become employers of labour.”
Saadatu Hassan Liman wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am even talking about pregnant women in labour who have COVID-19. That’s why I said everybody in the hospital is exposed and needs to take precaution.”
Catherine Falade (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Efforts to promote gender equity in labour markets and income generating activities as well as the support for decent employment initiatives in rural areas were hampered by the lack of comprehensive information on the multiple dimensions of social and gender inequalities.”
Philomena Nyarko (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There were also a lot of women who said one of the good things about living separately is they were not expected to do their partner's washing up or wash tjeor clothes. There is a sense of freedom from some of that domestic labour they might have otherwise been doing.”
Sasha Roseneil (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The South African governmentrecently released a new economic policyframework, the New Growth Path (NGP).This policy is intended to facilitate ‘arestructuring of the South Africaneconomy to improve its performance interms of labour absorption as well as thecomposition and rate of growth’ (EconomicDevelopment Department).”
Fiona Tregenna wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is it only human labour and the socio-economic entities made by men using raw materials.”
Jane Bennett (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Labour Party's stance on Palestine is morally wrong and ignores the suffering of the Palestinian people. I support the United Nations and the UN Human Rights Council calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, as well as an immediate ban on arms sales to Israel as well as sanctions.”
Claire Darke first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ex-mayor criticises Starmer in resignation letter BBC News, 24 June 2024.
“Nine years of hard labour, frequently interrupted by persecution and imprisonment, made him realize the necessity of native help.”
Camillus Paul Maes (1846–1915) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ven. John Martin Moye (1913) Catholic Encyclopedia
“Kenya does not have public ambulances and I knew the answer to the escalating problem of losing mothers in labour was to provide not only a transport service but also a call-center that they could reach out to – one that was easily accessible to pregnant women – Wheels for Life”
Jemimah Kariuki (born 2000) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kenya’s Dr Jemimah Kariuki wins 2021 Global Health Award,| 2021-05-25,By Jayne Rose Gacheri
“While birthing Wheels for Life, I just tweeted to reach out to many Kenyans out there who would like to offer any assistance where possible to women in labour and couldn’t access the hospital, and the response was amazing leading to the inauguration of Wheels for Life on April 28th, 2020”
Jemimah Kariuki (born 2000) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That man is happy in his share, Who is warm clad, and cleanly fed, Whose Necessaries bound his Care, And honest Labour makes his Bed.”
Charles Cotton (1630–1687) said by 1687 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The workers filed an objection, and the Supreme Court of India held that even though workers are not shareholders, they contribute their sweat and labour to make the company succeed.”
Femi Falana (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’m tempted to quote Lady Longford on her husband, the Labour peer and prison reformer:when asked, 'Have you ever thought of divorce?’, she replied, 'Divorce never; murder, frequently’.”
Mary Archer (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The key challenge for higher education is to remain relevant in a changing world. We need to partner with employers to ensure that we are developing the talent that they are seeking. We know from employers that many of the key skills they are looking for are so-called ‘soft’ skills (teamwork, awareness and so on), which is otherwise known as emotional labour.”
Heather McGregor (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As an observer, I like to say that the meeting went very well. Let me use this opportunity to congratulate the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, who will lead this party for the next four years.”
Alex Otti (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[...] we believe that the decision to introduce a minimum wage is not only a matter of fairness, but also a choice to identify another model of competition for our country, a choice to build an idea of development that is not based on reducing labour costs and tax evasion. This choice is one that can revitalise our economic system.”
Andrea Orlando (born 1969) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Stenographic report of the Assembly Session No. 16 at the Italian Chamber of Deputies, 30 novembre 2022.
“We can also look back with admiration on the construction, largely by manual labour, of the Vaal-Hartz Irrigation Scheme.”
Joan S. Whitmore (1922–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In my centre – the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), for example – we try to ensure that women going for vaginal delivery who have sickle cell disease have an epidural in labour so that they can deliver as pain-free as possible and smoothly.”
Bosede Afolabi wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I should mention that now it is a “seller’s market” when we are thinking about the labour market in IT and DS.”
Alex Biryukov (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“capital expenditure to ease the housing shortage, indoor water supply in more homes, making local hospitals part of ‘an efficient State Health Service’, free secondary education with more schools, playing fields and smaller classes, a ‘good and cheap’ tramway system for the suburbs, more allotments, a municipal milk supply, and City Council labour schemes for the unemployed”
Mary Ellen Cottrell (1868–1969) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Birmingham Municipal Elections Literature, 1920 – 1924. Municipal Election 1920, Selly Oak Ward, Mrs Cottrell, Co-operative and Labour Candidate.March 2015,Blog at WordPress.com.The Iron Room.
“Women make up 52.5% of the labour force and are an important pool of potential talent to help Uganda meet its development goals, especially in entrepreneurship and micro, small and medium enterprises growth.”
Gudula Naiga Basaza wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Women make up 52.5% of the labour force and are an important pool of potential talent to help Uganda meet its development goals.”
Gudula Naiga Basaza wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It saddens me to see sometimes even children under-five forced into labour, many of them are from poor families, so they do this for a living”
Salma Kikwete (born 1963) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Child’s education, health move me most: First Lady 07 September, 2014
“We observe that when we are dealing with a labour issue the opposition by interfering for misguided political gain is jeopardizing Unions chances at the negotiation table by politicizing the issue.”
Shaw Kgathi (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We would ordinarily not comment on a labour matter, which is subject of negotiations.”
Shaw Kgathi (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Shamukuni calls for labour law review Mmegi (18 March 2022)”
Machana Shamukuni (1976–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Innovation engenders prosperity, economic growth and new jobs, leading to the absorption of unemployed into the labour market thus making them productive and contributing towards the cycle of building and strengthening the economy.”
Alfred Madigele wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every Mosotho will be eligible to get their pension through the Social Security Bill which was motivated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) but government has chosen not to implement it.”
Nqosa Mahao (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Upon her reception to the Wellington women's branch of the Labour Party: "The women of New Zealand have at last arrived,”
Mabel Howard (1894–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As stated in Stuff's "Flashback: Mabel Howard becomes first NZ woman Cabinet minister," Stuff 2016. Stuff. Published 12 May 2016. Accessed 1 December 2025.
“Regarding her father, Edwin John Howard, a member of the Canterbury General Labourers' Union and Labour MP for Christchurch South:"I am what I am because of the training my father gave me,”
Mabel Howard (1894–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As stated in Stuff's "Flashback: Mabel Howard becomes first NZ woman Cabinet minister," Stuff 2016. Stuff. Published 12 May 2016. Accessed 1 December 2025.
“Forget I am a member of the Labour Party and remember that I am a woman”
Elizabeth McCombs (1873–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Excerpt from Tolerton, Jane. (2018). But I Changed All That: 'first' New Zealand women. Wellington: Booklover Books. ISBN 9780473450014.
“What Enoch Powell says today, the Conservative Party says tomorrow, and the Labour Party legislates on the day after.”
Ambalavaner Sivanandan (1923–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in the House of Commons by Zarah Sultana, 17 November 2025.
“Labour low levels longest, loftiest lines; Men march 'mid mounds, 'mid moles, 'mid murderous mines.”
Alaric Alexander Watts (1797–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have therefore been assiduous in my researches for support and assistance. Beneficent characters have, on all hands, exerted themselves with ardour, that they might co-operate in promoting this labour of love. They have laid the foundation of a fabric whose structure will at once reflect honour on their own hearts and on the age which their lives adorn.”
Valentin Haüy (1745–1822) said by 1822 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There’s nothing else, it’s a labour of love. There’s nothing else that’ll keep you. If you don’t like it, then you can’t be there. You have to be crazy passionate about it because sometimes the money no dey reach and then we just manage.”
Uzor Arukwe (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source