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Work

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“We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is — on the brink of catastrophe — torn by polarizing hate and how it’s a shame that we can’t work together to get things done, but the truth is we do. We work together to get things done every damn day!”
Jon Stewart (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Democracy can't work. Mathematicians, peasants, and animals, that's all there is — so democracy, a theory based on the assumption that mathematicians and peasants are equal, can never work. Wisdom is not additive; its maximum is that of the wisest man in a given group.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm showing an interest in your work. I thought you liked me showing an interest in your work. My showing. Save the gerund and screw the whale.”
Tom Stoppard (1937–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The revolt,” breathed Galen almost to himself, “must not die.” “Even if everybody in it dies? ‘It didn’t work, so let’s do it some more’? In my line of work, they call that military stupidity. I don’t know what they call it in civilian life.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gandhi rejects the Adam Smith notion of human nature as motivated by self-interest and brute needs and returns us to our spiritual dimension with its impulses for nonviolence, justice and equality. He exposes the fallacy of the claim that everyone can be rich and successful provided they work hard. He points to the millions who work themselves to the bone and still remain hungry.”
Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I work at Bed Bath and Beyond. I work in the Beyond section. When someone asks me where the Bath section is, I say "It's beyond me.”
Jay London (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And lo, between the sundawn and the sun His day's work and his night's work are undone: And lo, between the nightfall and the light, He is not, and none knoweth of such an one.”
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An artistic impression is substantially the resultant of two components. One what the work of art gives the onlooker — the other, what he is capable of giving to the work of art.”
Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) first seen 1909 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: An Artistic Impression" (1909) in Style and Idea (1985), p. 189
“Women who want to work deserve to work. And whenever they are denied that opportunity, it’s not fair to them – and we all lose out. In a competitive 21st century global economy, we cannot afford to leave talent on the sidelines. When we leave people out or write them off, we not only shortchange them and their dreams, we shortchange our country and our own futures.”
Hillary Clinton (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Master once referred to the Hindu notion that all creation is "leela" — God's play — and the universe is his playground. The aim of spirituality, he claimed, is to make all life play. This seemed too frivolous for a puritanical visitor. "Is their no room then for work?" "Of course there is. But work becomes spiritual only when it is transformed into play.”
Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I quit work two weeks later--having sold another eighty of my hours--and knew I could never again work a regular job.”
Derrick Jensen (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I begin my work at about nine or ten o'clock in the evening and continue until four or five in the morning. Night is a more quiet time to work. It aids thought.”
Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) said by 1922 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The critic does not pass judgment on the work; rather, art itself passes judgment, either by taking up the work in the medium of criticism or by rejecting it and thereby appraising it as beneath all criticism.”
Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In Chinese, honesty is the figure of a man standing, physically standing, beside his work. That means honesty: a man stands by his work. Two things: figure / ground. (p. 314)”
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gaitskell wants to make capitalism work better – but with controls. That’s what makes him so dangerous. He wants capitalism to go on existing – but without the prizes which capitalism earns for itself. Of course this is impossible. It cannot work.”
Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in D. Reisman, Anthony Crosland: The Mixed Economy (1996), p. 61. Bevan was a critic of Gaitskell, as highlighted by the author.
“Jesus teaches that human need must always be helped; that there is no greater task than to relieve someone's pain and distress and that the Christian's compassion must be like God's—unceasing. Other work may be laid aside but the work of compassion never.”
William Barclay (1907–1978) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vol. 1 (Revised edition. Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1975), p. 183
“A piece of art is not a loaf of bread. When someone steals a loaf of bread from the store, that's it. The loaf of bread is gone. When someone downloads a piece of music, it's just data until the listener puts that music back together with their own ears, their mind, their subjective experience. How they perceive your work changes your work.”
Jeff Tweedy (born 1967) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interviewed in 2004
“I feel that, you know, the enormous luck I've had in being able to make a living, and to never have had to have written one word that I didn't want to write, to be able to have satisfied that dictum I set for myself, which was not to work for pay, but to be paid for my work — just to be able to satisfy those standards that I set for myself has been an enormous privilege.”
Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with BBC Radio 1FM (1994)
“Work at these things, practice them, these are the things you ought to desire; they are what will put you on the path of divine virtue — yes, by the one who entrusted our soul with the tetraktys, source of ever-flowing nature. Pray to the gods for success and get to work.”
Pythagoras (583–491 BC) said by 491 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Divine Harmony: The Life and Teachings of Pythagoras by John Strohmeier and Peter Westbrook. (1999)
“I believe international work is a heavy task, but that it is nevertheless indispensable to go through an apprenticeship in it, at the cost of many efforts and also of a real spirit of sacrifice: however imperfect it may be, the work of Geneva has a grandeur that deserves our support.”
Marie Curie (1867–1934) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Eve Curie (July 1929), as quoted in Madame Curie : A Biography (1937) by Eve Curie Labouisse, as translated by Vincent Sheean, p. 341
“In peace time, that is to say, the size of the cake depends on the amount of work done. But in war time the size of the cake is fixed. If we work harder, we can fight better. But we must not consume more.”
John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Real art has the capacity to make us nervous. By reducing the work of art to its content and then interpreting that, one tames the work of art. Interpretation makes art manageable, comformable.”
Susan Sontag (1933–2004) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Against Interpretation" (1964), p. 8
“To love one's work is a way of loving oneself, and leaves one freer to love other people. But beware the difference between loving one's work and being merely engrossed in it.”
Susan Sontag (1933–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The eight hour work day is one of the most justified demands of the workers… Nobody who feels even just a trace of social feeling within himself will be able to stand aloof from the moral as well as the social-political justification for this demand. Well, work, as is known, is not an end in itself, rather only a means to an end.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Who Sabotages the Eight Hour Work Day?” Der Angriff (The Attack ) (17 September 1928) as quoted in English translation Attack: Essays from the Time of Struggle, RJG Enterprises (2010) p. 282
“There is only one Art, whose sole criterion is the power, the authenticity, the revelatory insight, the courage and suggestiveness with which it seeks its truth. … Thus, from the standpoint of the work and its worth it is irrelevant to which political ideas the artist as a citizen claims allegiance, which ideas he would like to serve with his work or whether he holds any such ideas at all.”
Václav Havel (1936–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To me the key thing is getting it right. And if a person's really smart and they're doing fantastic work, I don't care if they're a high school kid or a Harvard professor; it's the work that matters.”
Jimmy Wales (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be perfectly resigned, perfectly unconcerned; then alone can you do any true work. No eyes can see the real forces; we can only see the results. Put out self, forget it; just let God work, it is His business.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who work at a thing heart and soul not only achieve success in it but through their absorption in that they also realize the supreme truth—Brahman. Those who work at a thing with their whole heart receive help from God.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Welfare without work erodes the spirit and the sense of self-worth of the recipient. And it conditions the children of nonworking parents to an indolent and unproductive life. Hardworking parents raise hardworking kids; we should recognize that the opposite is also true. The influence of the work habits of our parents and other adults around us as we grow up has lasting impact.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“None of these challenges can be solved quickly or easily. But all of them demand that we listen to one another and work together; that we focus on our common interests, not on occasional differences; and that we reaffirm our shared values, which are stronger than any force that could drive us apart. That is the work that we must carry on.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The point is, is that the aim of our work must be not to just have a few do well, but to have everybody have a chance, everybody who is willing to work for it have the ability to dream big and then reach those dreams.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If Selma taught us anything, it’s that our work is never done. The American experiment in self-government gives work and purpose to each generation.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And I had been very encouraged by the, I think, interest in President-elect Trump’s wanting to work with my team around many of the issues that this great country faces. And I believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of party and regardless of political preferences, to now come together, work together to deal with the many challenges that we face.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From the London Times: "Tyson repeated his desire to do missionary work and said he had spoken to a Christian charity about aid work in Bosnia or Rwanda, 'somewhere where people are in dire need.'”
Mike Tyson (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the right joining in marriage is the work of the Lord only, and not the priests’ or magistrates’; for it is God’s ordinance and not man’s; and therefore Friends cannot consent that they should join them together: for we marry none; it is the Lord’s work, and we are but witnesses.”
George Fox (1624–1691) first seen 1669 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Epistle 264 (1669)
“Why don't people see what is new in my work, how in them, as is found only in Beethoven, the human being visibly plays a part in the work.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 19th June 1949, in Willi Schuh, Strauss the early years, 1982, Cambridge University Press, page xiii.
“In most parts of our country men work, not for themselves, not as partners in the old way in which they used to work, but generally as employees,—in a higher or lower grade,—of great corporations. There was a time when corporations played a very minor part in our business affairs, but now they play the chief part, and most men are the servants of corporations.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The intention was really to do something dignified, something that is honest and reflects the work that this Organization does. And it is with that spirit that the producers and the directors approached their work, and I hope you will all agree they have done that.”
Kofi Annan (1938–2018) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the film The Interpreter, from "Secretary-General's press encounter" (19 April 2005)
“District of Columbia welfare. The welfare work of the District of Columbia is administered by several different boards dealing with charities and various correctional efforts. It would be an improvement if this work were consolidated and placed under the direction of a single commission.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes one’s very angry and preaches, but I know that to clinch a point is to close it. To leave the reader free to decide what your work means, that’s the real art; it makes the work inexhaustible.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The magician" by Maya Jaggi in The Guardian (17 December 2005)
“And I know that all I understand about living is having your work to do, and being able to do it. That’s the pleasure, and the glory, and all. And if you can’t do the work, or it’s taken from you, then what’s any good? You have to have something....”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But in truth, America is the last, best hope of freedom. If we can't make freedom and democracy work in America, then it can't be made to work any place in the world.”
Walter Reuther (1907–1970) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address before the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Detroit, Michigan, June 26, 1957, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. …
“No work of art can be instantaneously perceived because there is the no opportunity for conservation and increase in tension, and hence none for that release and unfolding which gives volume to a work of art.”
John Dewey (1859–1952) said by 1952 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“101 Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy to handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve.”
Alan Perlis (1922–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.”
Thomas Sowell (born 1930) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Survival of the Left", Forbes (Sep 8, 1997)
“I'm a fatalist. … I consider I am rejected in principle. My work is and, through my work, I am. If it's accepted, it's miraculous or the result of a misunderstanding.”
Arthur Miller (1915–2005) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Arthur Miller, Moral Voice of American Stage, Dies at 89" by Marilyn Berger in The New York Times (February 11, 2005)
“There is a kind of synergy between the different forms of work, you’ll learn things from one sort of work that will have tremendous application in another. They all tend to pull each other forward.”
Alan Moore (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't work for myself. I work for you. I've fought corruption, and it didn't matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and they had to be held accountable.”
John McCain (1936–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[W]ork is good. Work is virtuous and inculcates virtue. Work gives people a sense of meaning and of being needed. Obviously, not everyone feels such satisfaction in the job they have now, but that dissatisfaction is precisely the motivation people need to find the job that might provide it. That motivation inspires virtue, too.”
Jonah Goldberg (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A comedian is a-- to me, a-- a full-fledged-- not only a monologist, but somebody who can really work a room, work a crowd, and has a real act. A comic? That's a-- like-- I think a notch down.”
Jerry Seinfeld (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source