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Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,159,190 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

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Work

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“They say it is love. We say it is unwaged work. They call it frigidity. We call it absenteeism. Every miscarriage is a work accident.”
Silvia Federici (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some things fail and others succeed. Well, then you get quite desperate, and you think: 'I am going to work and work and I'm not going to have any failures.' But then you find out that failures are inevitable; you can't even draw a straight line, you know that.”
Agnes Martin (1912–2004) first seen 1955 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in A House Divided: American Art Since 1955, Anne M. G. Wagner, Univ. of California Press 2012, p. 205 - note 8
“God descends with a purpose. From the earliest times sacrifice (yajña) had been accounted the most important work, and in the Gītā so imperative a work is sacrifice considered that we are told that 'ever on sacrifice firm-founded is Brahman all pervading'.”
W. Douglas P. Hill (1884–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If, O Janārdana, discernment be held by thee more excellent than work, then why, O Keśava, dost thou set me to do a work of violence?”
W. Douglas P. Hill (1884–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We didn’t win the World Series. How are we satisfied with that? That’s what we want. That’s why we work, that’s why we train, that’s why we do everything in the offseason, the cage work. Everything is to get an opportunity to win a World Series. We came up short.”
Aaron Judge (born 1992) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Western Wing is not a work written by an individual named Wang Shifu alone; if I read it carefully, it will also be a work of my own creation, because all the words in The Western Wing happen to be the words that I want to say and that I want to write down.”
Jin Shengtan (1608–1661) said by 1661 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, Vol. II (2010), ed. Kang-i Sun Chang and Stephen Owen, p. 116
“Why do you steal, you rascal? Why don't you look for some honest work?" "Because, sir, I am hungry. Any work that will permit me to feed myself is honest enough for me.”
Nguyễn Công Hoan (1903–1977) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dead End (or Impasse, 1938), as quoted in Understanding Vietnam by Neil L. Jamieson (University of California Press, 1995), p. 159
“Any kind of recognition for the work that you've done is a terrific thing. As a film actor, you don't often get that opportunity to meet with your audience and take your applause on stage. It's quite nice to meet people and hear them say, "I really enjoyed your work in this." I really enjoyed the Leprechaun films, and people who enjoy Leprechaun are quite obsessed.”
Warwick Davis (born 1970) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Warwick Davis Interview (April 11, 2012)
“No hay trabajo malo... lo malo es tener que trabajar. (Spanish for, There is no bad work ... the bad thing is having to work.)”
Ramón Valdés (1924–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What part should nature play in a work of art? Where should the line be drawn? And from the standpoint of practical procedure - should one work directly from nature or merely study and remember it? Too much freedom frightens me, poor imitator that I am, and yet my head is filled with so many images evoked by what I see around me at all times that nature seems insignificant and banal.”
Paul Sérusier (1864–1927) first seen 1889 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from a letter to Maurice Dennis, 1889; as quoted by John Rewald in Pierre Bonnard; MoMA - distribution, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1918, p. 14 - note 7
“Achievement is made of sweat and tears, so every single day you need to put in the work, and work as hard as you can!”
Ruben Vergara Meersohn (born 1991) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hours replying to business messages at 0:34 min, published 10 September 2017.
“The orders are rigorous: you should not neglect your work load. They are to proceed with the building work by night and in the heat of noon. You will not be sleeping during the night or in the heat of noon!”
Shulgi (died 2045 BC) said by 2045 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Companies think that they are modern because they have painted their walls in a bright colour or they allow people to bring their dogs to work. This is silly and millennial-washing. The idea is to bring in the mature generation and get them to mentor the co-work with the younger generation from a distance.”
Ricardo Semler (born 1959) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Business Report: "Q&A: A rebel with a cause" (14 July 2018)
“If you have a dream, a passion and have the opportunity to make it happen, great. BUT, if you can’t get to it right away, which is quite often the case, give the job you’re doing 100 per cent and keep your eyes open. You never know what opportunity might arise … something you never thought of could become your life’s work. Success of any kind is the result of hard work … there’s no shortcut.”
Anne Murray (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Via legislation, administrative measures and public policies with a rights-based perspective, we can reverse situations of inequity. The work is monumental, urgent and difficult because we are dealing with people who are in highly vulnerable situations. The work, however, is worth it because it brings us closer to having better democracies and better societies.”
Geovanny Vicente (born 1986) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: [https://blogs.iadb.org/sostenibilidad/en/2016/05/18/four-natural-treasures-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-that-need-your-help/
“Well, sure, when you have some success, you also work with more self-confidence and ease. But before that time; that awkward question: am I going to sell or not. All the same I never took notice of it regarding to my work.”
Suze Robertson (1855–1922) said by 1922 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Jim didn't have a script – he didn't work that normal way. He wanted to have a laboratory of textures and designs and ideas and rehearsals. He had a story – but he wanted the script to work in conjunction with the laboratory of creating the characters.”
Frank Oz (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I truly believe the America that we all want and deserve is not just a myth but a place that could actually exist. But only if we work for it, and not just individually-not just for ourselves, our families, or our ethnicities, religions, or other groups to which we belong. We need to work for it together.”
Ilhan Omar (born 1982) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The first essential in chemistry is that you should perform practical work and conduct experiments, for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain to the least degree of mastery. But you, O my son, do experiment's so that you may acquire knowledge. Scientists delight not in abundance of material; they rejoice only in the excellence of their experimental methods.”
Jabir ibn Hayyan (721–815) said by 815 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted by , Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists (2008) p. 163.
“Things have changed, sound systems now work - on occasion. Various things are made easier in some ways for the artists. All the things I used to want to do and get right, and became known as being difficult cause I wanted them... they are now part of a parcel of a tour, and it will be a delight to work under that system.”
Dusty Springfield (1939–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of course I cannot work as I did. Still, there has never been a day, I suppose, when I have failed to give thought to the work for peace and for Hellenism. The one is a matter of life and death for all of us; the other of maintaining amid all the dust of modern industrial life our love and appreciation of eternal values.”
Gilbert Murray (1866–1957) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 90th birthday broadcast, 'Unfinished Battle' (c. 2 January 1956), quoted in Duncan Wilson, Gilbert Murray OM (1987), p. 399
“I love my work. If I didn’t, would I be able to work 16 hours a day?”
Chen Shu-chu (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is said that girls with dreams become women with vision. May we empower each other to carry out such vision – because it isn't enough to simply talk about equality. One must believe it. And it isn't enough to simply believe in it. One must work at it. Let us work at it. Together. Starting now.”
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (born 1981) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The work of setting up deals is well under way and there are deals being done around the world for when we leave, but the real challenge for us is that fishermen are understood and the way the government recognises that challenge and work in their interest. ... But it's not clear yet that the Government has the guts and the resolve to deliver for fishermen.”
Derek Thomas (born 1972) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Said in an interview with BBC Radio Cornwall. Quoted by Cornwall Live. St Ives MP Derek Thomas questions Government's 'guts and resolve' over getting Brexit right for fishermen (29 March 2018)
“The claim of Edward Wilmot Blyden to the esteem and regard of all thinking Africans rests not so much upon the special work he has done for any particular people of the African race, as upon the general work he has done for the race as a whole.”
Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832–1912) said by 1912 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Try to remember this, men. The mark of a professional in any line of work - I mean any line of work - is that he can make difficult things look easy.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p.4 (Pt.1, Ch.1) [Page numbers per the Methuen Publishing Ltd 2005 edition]
“I see kids and how young they really are and I cannot imagine them coming on a boat by themselves, going to another country to work and be separated from their parents. It really humbles me and makes me grateful and it gave me a huge sense of…It’s part of my identity and gave me a very strong work ethic.”
Ali Wong (born 1982) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On writing about her family’s immigrant background in her memoir in in “'God, I was disgusting!' – Ali Wong on why women's bodies are the last taboo” in The Guardian (2019 Oct 17)
“Mental work was harder than physical work, although it was not exactly the mind that teaching strained. (p41)”
Maxine Hong Kingston (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I see these soldiers, people coming back from the wars, and they are so wounded. They are so hurt from what they have experienced and the actions which they have made in the world. And now there is work to be done in pulling our country together and the world together. That's the work that comes after a war. It's how to make peace and how to make the world whole again. (2007)”
Maxine Hong Kingston (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Writing is hard work, a huge commitment of time, energy, faith, passion, and there’s nothing shameful in the attempt, even if the work doesn’t end up succeeding. I’d rather let someone else do the public culling — I’m exacting enough in private.”
Julia Alvarez (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“... I find writing nonfiction difficult; it feels like pulling teeth. It’s technically and logistically challenging and emotionally draining, and the whole time you have one hand behind your back. I admire folks who write good nonfiction so much, because I’ve seen firsthand how hard it is to make it work and work well.”
Carmen Maria Machado (born 1986) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the differences between writing fiction vs. nonfiction in "Carmen Maria Machado: How I Write" in The Writer (2020 Jul 6)
“I prefer novels. However, I think that the theme of the piece determines its form. Some texts work better in poetry than in essay or stories or plays. It is good though to learn as many techniques in creative writing as one can, so that, as a writer, one has the flexibility to work with the piece and its need.”
Mayra Santos-Febres (born 1966) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her writing preferences in “An Interview with Mayra Santos-Febres” in Rollins360 (2013 Feb 27)
“I had all but decided to take a break and do some plays, and to see plays and read books and not work – literally not work – until I was going to burn for something.”
Tessa Thompson (born 1983) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On turning down the roles Hollywood was offering to her in “Tessa Thompson: ‘I decided not to work until I burned for something’” in The Guardian (2018 Feb 16)
“I pledge myself to raise my voice, raise my vote, raise every ounce of strength I have to keep up our struggle and to continue it all-demand that votes get counted, struggle for a set of systems that work, and work to protect Mother Earth.”
Winona LaDuke (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many writers believe that voice, which is character-based, is the same as style, which I believe is more author-based. The writer almost always has her own style, but I believe that in addition to being drawn to a particular author’s style, readers are also drawn to the singularity of the fictive voice, which is somewhat variant from work to work…”
ZZ Packer (born 1973) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On voice versus style in “Selling Short Story Short: An Interview with ZZ Packer” in Writer’s Digest (2011 Jul 20)
“Murals can do some amazing work in the world, because they live in the places where people live and work, because they can be made in relationship to the people who see them, because the people themselves can have input, if it’s done in a profound way. And that’s what I intend to keep doing as long as I’m standing here on earth.”
Judy Baca (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I just haven't experienced a lot of the ridiculousness, you know? I haven't been around that long…I’m constantly shocked. Whenever I'm doing work, a large part of that work is going to be reacting, and I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily — me being surprised but still wanting to change things.”
Blair Imani (born 1993) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On being a millennial and her view on politics in “Millennial activist Blair Imani is fighting for equality, and wants all generations to join her” in PRI (2016 Dec 16)
“… I think my attitude has changed – before, I was on my own, trying to break through into the world on the other side of a slippery glass wall. Now I’m on that other side, I feel I have to work harder. And I do. I don’t always love the work I do – but I know I’m one of the luckiest people alive to be doing what I always wanted.”
Roshi Fernando wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Before COVID-19, nearly 700 people died everyday because of poverty and inequality in this country. The frontlines of this pandemic will be the poor and dispossessed - those who do not have access to healthcare, housing, water, decent wages, stable work or - and those who are continuing to work in this crisis, meeting our health care and other needs.”
William Barber II (born 1963) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Members of the 116th Congress, Poverty Amidst Pandemic: A Moral Response to COVID-19 (March 19, 2020), co-written with Liz Theoharis, Poor People's Campaig…
Also quoted by: Liz Theoharis
“I don't translate my work; I write versions of it. I couldn't let anybody do it for me. We're a different self in each language, since language makes you think in different ways. I feel if I let someone else translate my work, the translator would stamp his personality on it. The translator speaks with your voice, but the soul behind the voice is someone else's.”
Rosario Ferré (1938–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Television is art by committee…I’m lucky to have worked on some really interesting shows, but in film, you’re there to fulfill the director’s vision. If you get to work with great directors, you become a vehicle for that work.”
Raúl Castillo (born 1977) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On television versus film work in “After ‘Looking’ and ‘We the Animals,’ Raul Castillo Is Ready to Be a Movie Star” in IndieWire (2019 Jan 2)
“I have a deep fear of hurting people…I don’t want to be seen as this kind of person. I don’t want my work to be seen as this type of work.”
Damon Young (writer) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the backlash he faced after writing a controversial article about sexual harassment in “White People Often Don’t See Damon Young. That’s About to Change.” in Mother Jones (March/April 2019)
“These great sages or masters have never been discouraged in their work for humanity by the fact that the body of truths which at cyclical intervals they promulgate anew would have to undergo periods of degeneration. Directed by spiritual beings even greater than they, they do this sublime work and without intermission throughout the whirling cycles of time. (Chapter 22)”
Gottfried de Purucker (1874–1942) said by 1942 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(MMT) is getting a lot of attention these days, thanks in large part to the excellent work of and Nathan Tankus, two of the movement’s most effective communicators. Over the past few weeks a number of people inspired by their work have asked me whether there is scope for thinking about from a MMT perspective. My answer: definitely. In fact, the two belong together.”
Jason Hickel (born 1982) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Degrowth and MMT: a thought experiment. (23 September 2020) jasonhickel.org
“My mother is as protagonist of my work as myself. My mother, my work and I are something indissoluble.”
Abel Azcona (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No matter how much you pray or fast, our country cannot grow without some of us deciding to do the hard work that makes nations work.”
Yemi Osinbajo (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As Chancellor, I funded the Government's Rwanda Policy because it is the right one, but it has to work. Crucially, we cannot waste large sums of taxpayers’ money on the policy only to fall at the first legal hurdle. I will make the policy work and will do whatever it takes to implement it and pursue additional similar partnerships.”
Rishi Sunak (born 1980) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Our asylum system is broken. This is my ten-point plan to fix it" The Telegraph (23 July 2022)
“Even if my place of work or the nature of my titles change, what I show won’t change and I don’t want it to. I’m a game fan at heart; I tell dirty jokes and make irresponsible comments (laughs), but I’ll work my hardest to make games.”
Kenichiro Takaki (born 1976) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kenichiro Takaki opens up about why he left Marvelous and more", NintendoEverything.com (27 March 2019).
“There are always people who want a tyrant. Democracy requires work if it's going to work.”
David Cay Johnston (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[On then education secretary Michael Gove] They could see he was willing to take a lot of flak. He wants to do what he can for schools in five years. If that means being carted off in a bodybag at the end, so be it. They now work with him to screw other people in Whitehall. So if [[Nick Clegg|[Nick] Clegg]] comes along with another mad idea, our officials work with Michael to scupper it.”
Dominic Cummings (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source