Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

Work

Love Friendship Happiness Hope Fear Courage Death Life Time War Peace Freedom Truth Wisdom Knowledge Science Art Music Nature Money Work Power God Beauty Laughter Family Success and failure Change Dreams Books and reading

“Civilization has done little for labor except to modify the forms of its exploitation.”
Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) said by 1926 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Republican and Democratic parties are alike capitalist parties — differing only in being committed to different sets of capitalist interests — they have the same principles under varying colors, are equally corrupt and are one in their subservience to capital and their hostility to labor.”
Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) said by 1926 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Free labor understands and acts in the knowledge the the struggle for peace and the struggle for human freedom are inseparably tied together with the struggle for social justice.”
Walter Reuther (1907–1970) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address before the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi, India, April 5, 1956, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 131
“Genius may conceive but patient labor must consummate.”
Horace Mann (1796–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Many Thoughts of Many Minds : A Treasury Of Quotations From The Literature Of Every Land And Every Age (1896) edited by Louis Klopsch
“Let us labor for that larger and larger comprehension of truth, that more and more thorough repudiation of error, which shall make the history of mankind a series of ascending developments.”
Horace Mann (1796–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Here I am deaf and dumb. When I walk through the streets I see every person in his shop employed about something. Once makes shoes, another hats, a third sells cloth, and everyone lives by his labor. I say to myself, which of all these things can you do? not one. I can make a bow or an arrow, catch fish, kill game, and go to war, but none of these is of any use here.”
Little Turtle (1752–1812) said by 1812 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The story of the labor movement needs to be taught in every school in this land... America is a living testimonial to what free men and women, organized in free democratic trade unions can do to make a better life … we ought to be proud of it!”
Hubert Humphrey (1911–1978) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the 1977 Minnesota State AFL-CIO Convention.
“Now habit is a labor-saving invention which enables a man to get along with less fuel,—that is all; for fuel is force.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809–1894) said by 1894 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Carol Burnett put it best when she described labor pains. She said, "Take your bottom lip, and pull it over your head.”
Bill Cosby (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The concept of labor is not peripheral in Hegel’s system, but is the central notion through which he conceives the development of society. Driven by the insight that opened this dimension to him, Hegel describes the mode of integration prevailing in a commodity-producing society in terms that clearly fore-shadow Marx’s critical approach. P. 78”
Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979) said by 1979 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...the Democrats know that no matter how many GATTs, NAFTAs, empty OSHAs, and other betrayals...they heap on those labor leaders, they can be had because, once again, the Republicans are deemed worse.”
Ralph Nader (born 1934) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a free-market economy, the consumer is king: labor unions don't run things, business people don't run things, bankers don't run things, politicians don't run things, but the success of a business depends on how people spend their money.”
Ron Paul (born 1935) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In response to the question "What is your opinion on direct democracy, where the citizens themselves make law, rather than elected representatives?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-nfaTZNWcI (May 14, 2015)
“If the object of all human investigation were but to produce in cognition a reflection of the world as it exists, of what value would be all its labor and pains, which could result only in vain repetition, in an imitation within the soul of that which exists without it?”
Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said by 1855 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science (1955) by Guy Waldo Dunnington. p. 365
“The human heart is a roaring forge where night and day the smiths are busy fashioning swords and silver cups, mitres and engine-wheels, the tools of *labor, and the gauds of precedence.”
Frank Crane (1861–1928) said by 1928 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And thus He mused: "From here, indeed Shall we strike terror in the Swede? And here a city by our labor Founded, shall gall our haughty neighbor; "Here cut" - so Nature gives command - Your window through on Europe; stand Firm-footed by the sea, unchanging!”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Bronze Horseman (1833).
“The Bitchun Society had all but done away with any sort of dull, repetitious labor, and what remained—tending bar, mopping toilets—commanded Whuffie aplenty and a life of leisure in your off-hours.”
Cory Doctorow (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The proletarian revolution ought now, by a little ray of kindness, to illuminate the gloomy life of prisoners, shorten Draconian sentences, abolish barbarous punishments - the use of manacles and whippings - improve, as far as possible, the medical attention, the food allowance, and the conditions of labor. That is a duty of honor.”
Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Against Capital Punishment (1918), Rosa Luxemburg Speaks
“[A]s a proportion of the labor force, fewer individuals manipulate things, more handle people and symbols.”
C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a society of employees dominated by the marketing mentality, it is inevitable that a personality market should arise. For in the great shift from manual skills to the art of 'handling', selling and servicing people, personal or even intimate traits of employees are drawn into the sphere of exchange and become commodities in the labor market.”
C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The virgin fertility of our soils and the vast amount of unskilled labor have been more of a curse than a blessing to agriculture. This exhaustive system for cultivation, the destruction of forest, the rapid and almost constant decomposition of organic matter, have made our agricultural problem one requiring more brains than of the North, East or West.”
George Washington Carver (1864–1943) first seen 1902 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Need of Scientific Agriculture in the South (Tuskegee Institute, 1902)
“I see the future development of painting taking place in workshops.. ..not in any holy temple of the arts. Painting is manual labor, no different from any other. It can be done well or poorly.”
George Grosz (1893–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by William Bolcom, in The End of the Mannerist Century / quoted in Art of the 20th Century, Part 1, Karl Ruhrberg, Klaus Honnef, Manfred Schneckenburger, Christiane Fricke; publisher: Taschen 2000, p. 190
“Our minds must have relaxation: rested, they will rise up better and keener. Just as we must not force fertile fields (for uninterrupted production will quickly exhaust them), so continual labor will break the power of our minds. They will recover their strength, however, after they have had a little freedom and relaxation.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An unaffected man in a negative light Could not have borne his labor nor have died Sighing that he should leave the banjo’s twang.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Turpe est difficiles habere nugas, Et stultus labor est ineptiarum.”
Martial (40–104) said by 104 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If Australia had not been settled as a prison and built by convict labor, it would have been colonized by other means; that was foreordained from the moment of Cook’s landing at Botany Bay in 1770. But it would have taken half a century longer, for Georgian Britain would have found it exceptionally difficult to find settlers crazy or needy enough to go there of their own free will.”
Robert Hughes (1938–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Socialism proposes no adequate substitute for the motive of enlightened selfishness that to-day is at the basis of all human labor and effort, enterprise and new activity.”
William Howard Taft (1857–1930) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Popular Government: Its Essence, Its Permanence and Its Perils, chapter 4, p.91 (1913).
“There is a knowledge which is desirable, though nothing come of it, as being of itself a treasure, and a sufficient remuneration of years of labor.”
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters. Not only is their time and labor due to the Government, but they should scrupulously avoid in their political action, as well as in the discharge of their official duty, offending by a display of obtrusive partisanship their neighbors who have relations with them as public officials.”
Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) first seen 1886 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Message to the heads of departments in the service of the US Government (14 July 1886).
“Those who invest in South Africa should not think they are doing us a favor; they are here for what they get out of our cheap and abundant labor, and they should know that they are buttressing one of the most vicious systems.”
Desmond Tutu (1931–2021) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley in letter to the editor Los Angeles Times (13 May 1985)
“Labor is sweet, for Thou hast toiled, And care is light, for Thou hast cared; Let not our works with self be soiled, Nor in unsimple ways ensnared. Through life's long day and death's dark night, O gentle Jesus! be our light.”
Frederick William Faber (1814–1863) said by 1863 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Clamorous pauperism feasteth While honest Labor, pining, hideth his sharp ribs.”
Martin Farquhar Tupper (1810–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To say of a picture, as is often said in its praise, that it shows great and earnest labor, is to say that it is incomplete and unfit for view.”
James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) said by 1903 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do believe that in a race, it is naive to think Linux has a hope of making a dent against Microsoft starting from way behind with a fraction of the resources and amateur labor. (I feel the same about Unix.)”
Ken Thompson (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The case for these investments is clear. Economists — left, right, and center — independent Wall Street forecasters, they all say that these kinds of public investments mean more jobs, more workers participating in the labor force, higher productivity, and higher growth for our economy over the long run.”
Joe Biden (born 1942) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Biden on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (June 24, 2021)
“If Jeezy's payin' LeBron, I'm payin' Dwyane Wade Three dice Cee-lo, three Card Molly Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley Statue of Liberty, long live the World Trade Long live the King yo, I'm from the Empire State that's”
Jay-Z (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Consider that as a principle of love is the main principle in the heart of a real Christian, so the labor of love, is the main business of the Christian life.”
Jonathan Edwards (theologian) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The poor despise labor when performed by slaves.”
George Mason (1725–1792) said by 1792 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We watched some of the movie. It was shocking. Sex is apparently hard labor. Various persons supported crushing weights in agonizing positions for what seemed like endless blocks of time. Exhausted men grunted and toiled like movers trying to get a refrigerator into a fifth floor walk-up.”
Russell Baker (1925–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The hope lives on age after age, Earth with its beauty might be won For labor as a heritage, For this has Ireland lost a son.”
George William Russell (1867–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Both of them mean that Labor has no rights which Capital is bound to respect,—that there is no higher law than human interest and cupidity.”
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Versailles was a gulf into which the labor of France poured its earnings; and it was never full.”
Francis Parkman (1823–1893) said by 1893 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was no doubt the common opinion of thoughtful men that society was approaching a critical period which might result in great changes. The labor troubles, their causes, course, and cure, took lead of all other topics in the public prints, and in serious conversation.”
Edward Bellamy (1850–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The greater efficiency which education gives to all sorts of labor, except the rudest, makes up in a short period for the time lost in acquiring it.”
Edward Bellamy (1850–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Manual labor meant association with a rude, coarse, and ignorant class of people. There is no such class now.”
Edward Bellamy (1850–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Care and labor are as much correlated to human existence as shadow is to light...”
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are so bound together that no man can labor for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the Universe.”
Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927) said by 1927 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Globalism erodes national and cultural boundaries at both the top and the bottom of the class hierarchy, encouraging the formation of a multiracial, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan elite as well as a multiracial, multicultural, migratory labor force. ("Race and the Ordeal of Liberal Optimism")”
Ellen Willis (1941–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No mass left-wing movement has ever been built on a majoritarian strategy. On the contrary, every such movement-socialism, populism, labor, civil rights, feminism, gay rights, ecology-has begun with a visionary minority whose ideas were at first decried as impractical, ridiculous, crazy, dangerous, and/or immoral.”
Ellen Willis (1941–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Monday and Tuesday and Monday and Tuesday and Monday and Tuesday,' so the poor slaves had to sing in their labor for the puca. And finally a great savior broke the charm. 'And Wednesday too' he said, and then it was all over with." "Roadstrum is the great savior who breaks the charm," Roadstrum announced. "I will set a Wednesday-term to the monster. But there are other elements in this…”
R. A. Lafferty (1914–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The suburban housewife — she was the dream image of the young American women and the envy, it was said, of women all over the world. The American housewife — freed by science and labor-saving appliances from the drudgery, the dangers of childbirth, and the illnesses of her grandmother … had found true feminine fulfilment.”
Betty Friedan (1921–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source