{ "type": "topic", "site": { "name": "Leafy Quotes", "language": "en", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com" }, "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.", "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work", "heading": "Quotes about work", "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.json", "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.md", "quotes_count": 378, "authors_count": 197, "parent": null, "children": [ { "name": "business", "slug": "business", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business", "heading": "Quotes about business" } ], "quotes": [ { "id": "e009a2da-4c2a-4f65-ae0e-3b7f97f22d79", "slug": "by-the-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine/fables/by-the-work", "text": "By the work one knows the workman.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean de La Fontaine", "slug": "jean-de-la-fontaine", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine" }, "book": { "title": "Fables", "slug": "fables", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine/fables" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_de_La_Fontaine#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:10:00" }, { "id": "ac3556fa-86db-403f-9c6f-9e43a2cba264", "slug": "learn-fortitude-and", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid/learn-fortitude-and", "text": "Learn fortitude and toil from me, my son,\n\nAche of true toil. Good fortune learn from others.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virgil", "slug": "virgil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil" }, "book": { "title": "The Aeneid", "slug": "the-aeneid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" }, { "name": "father", "slug": "father", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/father" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virgil#Book_XII", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:55" }, { "id": "2a0507cc-f627-4f49-9f32-d2a18ae11cd7", "slug": "thus-to-their", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid/thus-to-their", "text": "Thus to their toils, in early summer, run\n\nThe clust'ring bees, and labour in the sun;\n\nLed forth, in colonies, their buzzing race,\n\nOr work the liquid sweets, and thicken to a mass.\n\nThe busy nation flies from flow'r to flow'r,\n\nAnd hoards, in curious cells, the golden store;\n\nA chosen troop before the gate attends,\n\nTo take the burdens, and relieve their friends;\n\nWarm at the fragrant work, in bands, they drive\n\nThe drone, a lazy robber, from the hive.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virgil", "slug": "virgil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil" }, "book": { "title": "The Aeneid", "slug": "the-aeneid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "animals", "slug": "animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aeneid#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:55" }, { "id": "c1534c6a-3fba-41dd-b7d0-04bc47b9f103", "slug": "so-hard-and", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid/so-hard-and", "text": "So hard and huge a task it was to found the Roman people.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virgil", "slug": "virgil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil" }, "book": { "title": "The Aeneid", "slug": "the-aeneid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virgil#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:53" }, { "id": "0de5c68f-22f8-40ea-a64b-dd8a766ce1c6", "slug": "the-human-race", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-sorrows-of-young-werther/the-human-race", "text": "The human race is but a monotonous affair. Most of them labor the greater part of their time for mere subsistence; and the scanty portion of freedom which remains to them so troubles them that they use every exertion to get rid of it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "slug": "johann-wolfgang-von-goethe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe" }, "book": { "title": "The Sorrows of Young Werther", "slug": "the-sorrows-of-young-werther", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-sorrows-of-young-werther" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:52" }, { "id": "79e92edd-8dc4-4bd4-b089-b85aebbec98d", "slug": "nothing-is-more", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/nothing-is-more", "text": "Nothing is more dangerous than discontinued labor; it is habit lost. A habit easy to abandon, difficult to resume.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Victor Hugo", "slug": "victor-hugo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo" }, "book": { "title": "Les Misérables", "slug": "les-miserables", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "habits", "slug": "habits", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/habits" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables#Book_II_-_Eponine", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:49" }, { "id": "44d2a6c8-3e91-45e1-98b1-5e885c9acccc", "slug": "a-man-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/a-man-is-not", "text": "A man is not idle, because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labour and there is an invisible labour.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Victor Hugo", "slug": "victor-hugo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo" }, "book": { "title": "Les Misérables", "slug": "les-miserables", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables#Chapter_VIII_-_Faith_-_Law", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:48" }, { "id": "84a75786-9beb-435a-b169-43cb1ea90a5c", "slug": "you-must-certainly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide/you-must-certainly", "text": "\"You must certainly have a vast estate,\" said Candide to the Turk.\"I have no more than twenty acres of ground,\" he replied, \"the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of my children; and our labor keeps off from us three great evils — idleness, vice, and want.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Voltaire", "slug": "voltaire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire" }, "book": { "title": "Candide", "slug": "candide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Candide#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:47" }, { "id": "09c59b2d-f858-4609-97fc-fb04cf016642", "slug": "work-then-without", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide/work-then-without", "text": "\"Work then without disputing,\" said Martin; \"it is the only way to render life supportable.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Voltaire", "slug": "voltaire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire" }, "book": { "title": "Candide", "slug": "candide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Candide#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:47" }, { "id": "3eea133f-d8f6-4c21-b969-c1719548753e", "slug": "useful-hands-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/luisa-capetillo/a-nation-of-women/useful-hands-are", "text": "useful hands are preferable to ones that are merely beautiful.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Luisa Capetillo", "slug": "luisa-capetillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/luisa-capetillo" }, "book": { "title": "A Nation of Women", "slug": "a-nation-of-women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/luisa-capetillo/a-nation-of-women" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Luisa_Capetillo#%22Woman_in_the_home,_in_the_family,_and_in_government%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:58" }, { "id": "a7a3a1c9-74f6-46cc-8c34-f751044dff77", "slug": "he-did-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/honore-de-balzac/the-atheists-mass/he-did-the", "text": "He did the housework as Philopoemen sawed his wood, communicating the simplicity of doing to all his actions, maintaining his dignity, for he seemed to understand that the goal ennobles everything.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Honoré de Balzac", "slug": "honore-de-balzac", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/honore-de-balzac" }, "book": { "title": "The Atheist's Mass", "slug": "the-atheists-mass", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/honore-de-balzac/the-atheists-mass" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_de_Balzac#The_Atheist's_Mass_(1836)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:39" }, { "id": "df42a2cc-8d03-46b3-b504-87533294d62a", "slug": "genius-begins-beautiful", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/genius-begins-beautiful", "text": "Genius begins beautiful works, but only labor finishes them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "talent", "slug": "talent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:37" }, { "id": "c7f42b19-22de-4958-8877-641e7196c9fe", "slug": "toil-conquered-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-georgics/toil-conquered-the", "text": "Toil conquered the world, unrelenting toil, and want that pinches when life is hard.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virgil", "slug": "virgil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil" }, "book": { "title": "The Georgics", "slug": "the-georgics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-georgics" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virgil#Georgics_(29_BC)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:25" }, { "id": "adc1a90a-8b4f-4888-9830-f47ef05e9021", "slug": "practice-and-thought", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-georgics/practice-and-thought", "text": "Practice and thought might gradually forge many an art.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virgil", "slug": "virgil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil" }, "book": { "title": "The Georgics", "slug": "the-georgics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-georgics" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virgil#Georgics_(29_BC)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:25" }, { "id": "9505a56d-e52f-4561-9533-d4c5c169ef4a", "slug": "from-the-external", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/soren-kierkegaard/fear-and-trembling/from-the-external", "text": "From the external and visible world comes the old adage: “Only one who works gets bread.” Oddly enough, the adage does not fit the world in which it is most at home, for imperfection is the fundamental law of the external world, and here it happens again and again that he who does not work does get bread, and he who sleeps gets more abundantly than he who works. In the external world, everything belongs to the possessor.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sören Kierkegaard", "slug": "soren-kierkegaard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/soren-kierkegaard" }, "book": { "title": "Fear and Trembling", "slug": "fear-and-trembling", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/soren-kierkegaard/fear-and-trembling" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 27, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fear_and_Trembling#Problemata:Preliminary_Expectoration", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:01:58" }, { "id": "56c7259b-af8e-4db2-9de7-db35f2f3e658", "slug": "from-life-from", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/czeslaw-milosz/rescue/from-life-from", "text": "From life, from the apple cut by the flaming knife,\n\nwhat grain will be saved?My son, believe me, nothing remains,\n\nOnly adult toil,\n\nthe furrow of fate in the palm.\n\nOnly toil,\n\nNothing more.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Czesław Miłosz", "slug": "czeslaw-milosz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/czeslaw-milosz" }, "book": { "title": "Rescue", "slug": "rescue", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/czeslaw-milosz/rescue" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Czes%C5%82aw_Mi%C5%82osz#Rescue_(1945)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:01:56" }, { "id": "2fec1517-a869-4a3d-872d-c5230abe104e", "slug": "there-are-men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/soren-kierkegaard/eitheror/there-are-men", "text": "There are men who have an extraordinary talent for transforming everything into a matter of business, whose whole life is business, who fall in love, marry, listen to a joke, and admire a picture with the same industrious zeal with which they labor during business hours.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sören Kierkegaard", "slug": "soren-kierkegaard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/soren-kierkegaard" }, "book": { "title": "Either/Or", "slug": "eitheror", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/soren-kierkegaard/eitheror" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 285, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Either/Or#Crop_Rotation", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:01:54" }, { "id": "eba9528d-5a85-45ea-af8a-90b8e22c572a", "slug": "but-talent-is-a-dreadfully", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/danse-macabre/but-talent-is-a-dreadfully", "text": "...but talent is a dreadfully cheap commodity, cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work and study; a constant process of honing. Talent is a dull knife that will cut nothing unless it is wielded with great force...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "Danse Macabre", "slug": "danse-macabre", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/danse-macabre" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 92, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "talent", "slug": "talent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Danse_Macabre_(book)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:43" }, { "id": "abe0c886-fa1c-48fc-a683-a49ea05d4b9d", "slug": "nothing-which-is-worth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-p-marquand/the-late-george-apley/nothing-which-is-worth", "text": "Nothing which is worth while is easy, nor in my experience is the actual doing of it particularly pleasant. The pleasure arises from completion and from the knowledge that one has done the right thing and has stood by one’s convictions.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John P Marquand", "slug": "john-p-marquand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-p-marquand" }, "book": { "title": "The Late George Apley", "slug": "the-late-george-apley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-p-marquand/the-late-george-apley" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_P._Marquand#The_Late_George_Apley_(1937)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:30" }, { "id": "8d76b844-36ac-40e1-a7c0-d4bd58b43e0a", "slug": "dull-painstaking-technocratic", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dan-jones/henry-v/dull-painstaking-technocratic", "text": "Dull, painstaking, technocratic work seldom moves bards and chroniclers in the same way as battlefield victories. Yet the great triumph of Henry’s leadership of the royal council in 1410–11 is that he realizes that nothing can proceed without it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dan Jones", "slug": "dan-jones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dan-jones" }, "book": { "title": "Henry V", "slug": "henry-v", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dan-jones/henry-v" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 142, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "leadership", "slug": "leadership", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dan_Jones_(writer)#Henry_V:_The_Astonishing_Triumph_of_England's_Greatest_Warrior_King_(2024)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:23" }, { "id": "a70cd000-ea41-49b2-be92-f5be7f6e67d7", "slug": "for-james-there", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt/drayton-and-mackenzie/for-james-there", "text": "For James, there was no sense that expanding Tesco’s sales onto the web was what the human race urgently needed. It didn’t have to be. This was a ladder. And yet: he’d come first in the most prestigious course at the most famous university in the world, and he was sitting here in his boxers copying and pasting the item code for ironing boards. It didn’t feel as if he were ascending to greatness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alexander Starritt", "slug": "alexander-starritt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt" }, "book": { "title": "Drayton and Mackenzie", "slug": "drayton-and-mackenzie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt/drayton-and-mackenzie" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 47, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "ambition", "slug": "ambition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ambition" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Starritt#Drayton_and_Mackenzie_(2025)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:22" }, { "id": "2b8f2fbc-ef18-4a95-a38e-9e611e06e11a", "slug": "it-was-insane", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt/drayton-and-mackenzie/it-was-insane", "text": "It was insane that you had to pretend to be interested in your job and use these lame phrases like “pinging things over” “by close of play”.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alexander Starritt", "slug": "alexander-starritt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt" }, "book": { "title": "Drayton and Mackenzie", "slug": "drayton-and-mackenzie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt/drayton-and-mackenzie" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 105, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Starritt#Drayton_and_Mackenzie_(2025)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:22" }, { "id": "04b6a673-8972-4ced-a7ba-d3714ab2688f", "slug": "james-was-twenty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt/drayton-and-mackenzie/james-was-twenty", "text": "James was twenty- seven and never had a boss again. Until that moment, he and Roland had lived as employees, as if in the warm, dark, cosy- fetid hold of a ship. What happened up at the helm was not their concern.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alexander Starritt", "slug": "alexander-starritt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt" }, "book": { "title": "Drayton and Mackenzie", "slug": "drayton-and-mackenzie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexander-starritt/drayton-and-mackenzie" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 222, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Starritt#Drayton_and_Mackenzie_(2025)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:22" }, { "id": "b7fd370a-933c-49af-8af9-03bec07aab01", "slug": "fifteen-years-ago", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare/the-girl-with-the-louding-voice/fifteen-years-ago", "text": "“Fifteen years ago, I was selling cheap materials from my boot, going from place to place, looking for customers. I wasn’t born into wealth. I have worked hard for my success. I fought for it. It wasn’t easy, especially because my husband, Chief, he didn’t have a job. If you want to be like me in business, Adunni, you will need to work very hard. Rise about whatever life throws at you. And never, ever give up on your dreams. Do you understand?”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Abi Dare", "slug": "abi-dare", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare" }, "book": { "title": "The Girl with the Louding Voice", "slug": "the-girl-with-the-louding-voice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare/the-girl-with-the-louding-voice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "dreams and aspirations", "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abi_Dar%C3%A9#The_Girl_with_the_Louding_Voice_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:21" }, { "id": "8833906b-a36b-4905-a826-5ea2f6de77c4", "slug": "a-crowd-of-women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/a-crowd-of-women", "text": "A crowd of women around me doing the ocean of women’s work that never subsided and never changed and always swallowed whatever time you gave it and wanted more, another hungry body of water. I submerged into it like a ritual bath and let it close over my head gladly.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Naomi Novik", "slug": "naomi-novik", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik" }, "book": { "title": "Spinning Silver", "slug": "spinning-silver", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Naomi_Novik#Spinning_Silver_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:05" }, { "id": "c5b5b29e-f91b-4e23-a434-844da0d428ea", "slug": "youre-not-being", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wesley-chu/the-lives-of-tao/youre-not-being", "text": "You’re not being paid to like your work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wesley Chu", "slug": "wesley-chu", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wesley-chu" }, "book": { "title": "The Lives of Tao", "slug": "the-lives-of-tao", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wesley-chu/the-lives-of-tao" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 58, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wesley_Chu#The_Lives_of_Tao_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:47" }, { "id": "b3ab61e6-eca7-4c26-9292-a8a9310b940d", "slug": "when-someone-asked", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wesley-chu/the-lives-of-tao/when-someone-asked", "text": "When someone asked Roen what he did, he explained that he typed incoherent commands that performed virtual tasks to create intangible objects. At the end of the day, Roen wasn’t sure what he did or why he did it—just that every two weeks, he received a paycheck for the hours of his life wasted, building these imaginary things on some server located somewhere.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wesley Chu", "slug": "wesley-chu", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wesley-chu" }, "book": { "title": "The Lives of Tao", "slug": "the-lives-of-tao", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wesley-chu/the-lives-of-tao" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 57, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wesley_Chu#The_Lives_of_Tao_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:47" }, { "id": "90c1f498-1723-49d4-add3-724835323e73", "slug": "man-invented-civilization", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-r-stewart/earth-abides/man-invented-civilization", "text": "Man invented civilization, and was inordinately proud of it. But in no way did civilization change life more than by sharpening the line between work and play, and at last that division came to be more important than the old one between sleeping and waking. Sleep came to be thought a kind of relaxation, and “sleeping on the job” a heinous sin. The turning out of the light and the ringing of the alarm clock were not so much the symbols of man’s dual life as were the punching of the time clock and the blowing of the whistle. Men marched on picket lines and threw bricks and exploded dynamite to shift an hour from one classification to the other, and other men fought equally hard to prevent them. And always work became more laborious and odious, and play grew more artificial and febrile.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George R. Stewart", "slug": "george-r-stewart", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-r-stewart" }, "book": { "title": "Earth Abides", "slug": "earth-abides", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-r-stewart/earth-abides" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 193, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "civilization", "slug": "civilization", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/civilization" }, { "name": "play", "slug": "play", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/play" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_R._Stewart#Earth_Abides_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:35" }, { "id": "0aadea4c-4872-4975-a3eb-5477f1f5ad32", "slug": "all-the-old", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-h-wilson/amped/all-the-old", "text": "All the old men set to their jobs with the grim robotic work ethic that always belongs to the previous generation.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Daniel H. Wilson", "slug": "daniel-h-wilson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-h-wilson" }, "book": { "title": "Amped", "slug": "amped", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-h-wilson/amped" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 57, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_H._Wilson#Amped_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:29" }, { "id": "c6a7fb93-6ca0-4e0e-b506-79fb68fcd33e", "slug": "victor-had-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/moving-pictures/victor-had-never", "text": "Victor had never worked for anything in his life. In his experience, jobs were things that happened to other people. (p. 93)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Moving Pictures", "slug": "moving-pictures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/moving-pictures" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moving_Pictures_(novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:15" }, { "id": "e95fbfd8-5dfe-41d2-8cf2-9b085cc6d14d", "slug": "whenever-id-heard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz/a-fraction-of-the-whole/whenever-id-heard", "text": "Whenever I'd heard anyone say \"Relationships are work,\" I'd always scoffed, because I thought relationships should grow wild like untended gardens, but now I knew they were work, and unpaid work too - volunteer work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Steve Toltz", "slug": "steve-toltz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz" }, "book": { "title": "A Fraction Of The Whole", "slug": "a-fraction-of-the-whole", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz/a-fraction-of-the-whole" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Toltz#Four", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:11" }, { "id": "bf3a466d-f90e-4dff-bde3-01d12fe65648", "slug": "the-worst-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz/a-fraction-of-the-whole/the-worst-thing", "text": "The worst thing you can say about someone in a society like ours is that they can't hold down a job. It conjures images of unshaven losers with weak grips watching sadly as the jobs slip free and float away. There's nothing we respect more than work, and there's nothing we denigrate more than the unwillingness to work, and if someone wants to dedicate himself to painting or writing poetry, he'd better be holding down a job at a hamburger restaurant if he knows what's good for him.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Steve Toltz", "slug": "steve-toltz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz" }, "book": { "title": "A Fraction Of The Whole", "slug": "a-fraction-of-the-whole", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz/a-fraction-of-the-whole" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Toltz#Four", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:11" }, { "id": "453237f6-990d-4241-a86e-ffde760c327f", "slug": "if-your-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri/dangerous-love/if-your-work", "text": "If your work can surprise you then you have started something worthwhile.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Okri", "slug": "ben-okri", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri" }, "book": { "title": "Dangerous Love", "slug": "dangerous-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri/dangerous-love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "creativity", "slug": "creativity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/creativity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Okri#Dangerous_Love_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:03" }, { "id": "1bfd19d3-66e5-48ee-830d-e6e2c71f2632", "slug": "craft-is-important", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri/dangerous-love/craft-is-important", "text": "Craft is important. The greater the idea, the greater the craft you need.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Okri", "slug": "ben-okri", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri" }, "book": { "title": "Dangerous Love", "slug": "dangerous-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri/dangerous-love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Okri#Dangerous_Love_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:03" }, { "id": "aba8c6d3-25aa-4712-83dc-7a8be16dd816", "slug": "let-go-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/keep-going/let-go-of-the", "text": "Let go of the thing that you're trying to be (the noun), and focus on the actual work you need to be doing (the verb). Doing the verb will take you someplace further and far more interesting.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Keep Going", "slug": "keep-going", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/keep-going" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "taking action", "slug": "taking-action", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/taking-action" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Keep_Going_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:00" }, { "id": "a27699b8-cb12-475b-8a63-5c630f751ab6", "slug": "everyone-whos-turned", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/keep-going/everyone-whos-turned", "text": "Everyone who's turned their passion into their breadwinning knows this is dangerous territory. One of the easiest ways to hate something you love is to turn it into your job: taking the thing that keeps you alive spiritually and turning it into the thing that keeps you alive literally.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Keep Going", "slug": "keep-going", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/keep-going" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "passion", "slug": "passion-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/passion-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Keep_Going_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:00" }, { "id": "760cb16a-6da7-4467-a03d-0ae8228bf396", "slug": "the-only-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/keep-going/the-only-thing", "text": "The only thing we can really control is what we spend our days on. What we work on and how hard we work on it. It might seem like a stretch, but I really think the best thing you can do if you want to make art is to pretend you're starring in your own remake of Groundhog Day: Yesterday's over, tomorrow may never come, there's just today and what you can do with it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Keep Going", "slug": "keep-going", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/keep-going" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "the present moment", "slug": "the-present-moment", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present-moment" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Keep_Going_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:00" }, { "id": "4ca4b89c-d5ce-4eb1-abe2-0884a5b5c488", "slug": "its-always-a-mistake", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/keep-going/its-always-a-mistake", "text": "It's always a mistake to equate productivity and creativity. They are not the same. In fact, they're frequently at odds with each other: You're often most creative when you're the least productive.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Keep Going", "slug": "keep-going", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/keep-going" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "creativity", "slug": "creativity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/creativity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Keep_Going_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:00" }, { "id": "3f3608d2-654a-4051-9167-1e68e1bcd557", "slug": "it-is-actually", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/show-your-work/it-is-actually", "text": "It is actually true that life is all about \"who you know\". But who you know is largely dependent on who you are and what you do, and the people you know can't do anything for you if you're not doing good work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Show Your Work!", "slug": "show-your-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/show-your-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Show_Your_Work!_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:00" }, { "id": "a2a04916-a9e0-47eb-bf63-3da31424bad8", "slug": "human-beings-want", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/show-your-work/human-beings-want", "text": "Human beings want to know where things come from, how they were made, and who made them. The stories you tell about the work you do have a huge effect on how people feel and what they understand about your work, and how people feel and what they understand about your work effects how they value it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Show Your Work!", "slug": "show-your-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/show-your-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "stories", "slug": "stories", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/stories" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Show_Your_Work!_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:59" }, { "id": "8dcc9c6d-7980-4271-bfc1-ece83f9abfd1", "slug": "if-there-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/steal-like-an-artist/if-there-was", "text": "If there was a secret formula for becoming known, I would give it to you. But there's only one not-so-secret formula that I know: Do good work and share it with people.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Steal Like an Artist", "slug": "steal-like-an-artist", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/steal-like-an-artist" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "fame", "slug": "fame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Steal_Like_an_Artist_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:59" }, { "id": "1e539e5a-33f8-451e-abf3-cb8cf19773b7", "slug": "dont-worry-about", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/steal-like-an-artist/dont-worry-about", "text": "Don't worry about a grand scheme or unified vision for your work. [...] What unifies your work is the fact that you made it. One day, you'll look back and it will all make sense.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Steal Like an Artist", "slug": "steal-like-an-artist", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/steal-like-an-artist" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "creativity", "slug": "creativity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/creativity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Steal_Like_an_Artist_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:59" }, { "id": "e2d648e8-5e39-4150-8fc1-0833fad571c6", "slug": "initially-what-is-important", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-coperthwaite/a-handmade-life/initially-what-is-important", "text": "Initially what is important is to be able to successfully make a useful object over which the maker can exclaim, with pleasure and amazement, 'I made this myself!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Coperthwaite", "slug": "william-coperthwaite", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-coperthwaite" }, "book": { "title": "A Handmade Life", "slug": "a-handmade-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-coperthwaite/a-handmade-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 99, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "creativity", "slug": "creativity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/creativity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Coperthwaite#A_Handmade_Life:_In_Search_of_Simplicity", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:49" }, { "id": "4f1822f9-9e33-49fd-9e32-d7e528149890", "slug": "the-boat-sat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton/cloudstreet/the-boat-sat", "text": "The boat sat well in the water, evenly hipped and clean painted. In their rowlocks, the oars knocked and creaked with business. The working, operating feel of things pleased Quick Lamb. There was nothing more warming than the spectacle of something proceeding properly after a due amount of work. He was like that with rifles, with motors, drum reels, or some fancy roadhouse's new flushing toilet. If you didn't know how they worked, then things weren't worth having - something the old girl used to say.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tim Winton", "slug": "tim-winton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton" }, "book": { "title": "Cloudstreet", "slug": "cloudstreet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton/cloudstreet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 218, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tim_Winton#Cloudstreet_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:47" }, { "id": "07e0cb40-cf6d-4a73-a599-001944659ed5", "slug": "there-was-a-common", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/reamde/there-was-a-common", "text": "There was a common saying in the biz/tech world that “A's hire A's, and B's hire C's,” the point being that as long as you continued to recruit only the very best people, they would attract others, but as soon as you let your standards slip, the second-raters would begin to sign up third-raters to act as their minions and advance their agendas.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neal Stephenson", "slug": "neal-stephenson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson" }, "book": { "title": "Reamde", "slug": "reamde", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/reamde" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "mediocrity", "slug": "mediocrity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mediocrity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Reamde#Day_18", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:46" }, { "id": "fd8ca75c-4bd0-433a-97ab-f07e12887e0f", "slug": "after-that-i-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/false-value/after-that-i-was", "text": "After that I was up and ready for action. It might have been a Saturday, but below the rank of chief inspector weekends are an entirely notional concept.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Aaronovitch", "slug": "ben-aaronovitch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch" }, "book": { "title": "False Value", "slug": "false-value", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/false-value" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 238, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Aaronovitch#False_Value_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:33" }, { "id": "25c128c6-018e-4206-b581-f0145c12d1a7", "slug": "the-perennial-problem", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/tales-from-the-folly/the-perennial-problem", "text": "The perennial problem for retailers the world over are the customers. Not only do they clutter up the shop, but they also demand to be reminded of the title of a book they read a review about in the Telegraph, given directions to The Lion King, helped to find a book their mum will like and, occasionally, purchase some actual merchandise. All of this customer-facing activity gets in the way of the shelving, merchandising, sticking, destickering, table pyramiding and stock returning that is necessary for the smooth operation of a modern bookshop.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Aaronovitch", "slug": "ben-aaronovitch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch" }, "book": { "title": "Tales From The Folly", "slug": "tales-from-the-folly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/tales-from-the-folly" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 45, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Aaronovitch#Tales_from_the_Folly_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:33" }, { "id": "c9964fe7-31e3-49aa-9c15-a1d048cb86af", "slug": "upstairs-molas-offices", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/lies-sleeping/upstairs-molas-offices", "text": "Upstairs, MOLA’s offices had the same open-plan cubicle based workspace that has been the delight of code monkeys and low-level paper pushers since one time and motion consultant said to another, “Hey, you know, I don’t think we’ve really dehumanized these white collar drones enough.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Aaronovitch", "slug": "ben-aaronovitch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch" }, "book": { "title": "Lies Sleeping", "slug": "lies-sleeping", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/lies-sleeping" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 113, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Aaronovitch#Lies_Sleeping_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:32" }, { "id": "4db22a87-2e74-4fae-a3c2-b8da8f278261", "slug": "this-guy-security", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/lies-sleeping/this-guy-security", "text": "This guy [Security Guard] was in a navy suit with an unfortunate orange tie, and was nearing us with the caution of a man on a minimum wage zero hours contract who planned to give his employers exactly what they paid for.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Aaronovitch", "slug": "ben-aaronovitch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch" }, "book": { "title": "Lies Sleeping", "slug": "lies-sleeping", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/lies-sleeping" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 120, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Aaronovitch#Lies_Sleeping_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:32" }, { "id": "4005510a-4507-4f27-b966-9ff22e2fc4ec", "slug": "i-found-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/lies-sleeping/i-found-that", "text": "I found that if you voluntarily take on a chore somebody else doesn’t want to do, they don’t check the results too closely—in case they have to do it again themselves.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Aaronovitch", "slug": "ben-aaronovitch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch" }, "book": { "title": "Lies Sleeping", "slug": "lies-sleeping", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/lies-sleeping" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 221, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Aaronovitch#Lies_Sleeping_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:32" }, { "id": "35ef487d-4437-4c97-8352-335c0dfdb108", "slug": "guleed-went-home", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/lies-sleeping/guleed-went-home", "text": "Guleed went home because she has, she says, a deep and mystical understanding of the work-life balance. A concept I once tried explaining to Nightingale with the aid of the big whiteboard in the visitors' lounge. I think he grasped it in the end, and said he was all in favour as long as I understood that this in no way applied to apprentices.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Aaronovitch", "slug": "ben-aaronovitch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch" }, "book": { "title": "Lies Sleeping", "slug": "lies-sleeping", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-aaronovitch/lies-sleeping" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "rest", "slug": "rest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rest" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Aaronovitch#Lies_Sleeping_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:31" }, { "id": "b4c40744-51f0-45ee-8baa-2bf5f199795e", "slug": "a-working-mans-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre/a-working-mans-life", "text": "A working-man's life is a dog's life, that's what it is.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "B. Traven", "slug": "b-traven", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven" }, "book": { "title": "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", "slug": "the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B._Traven#The_Treasure_of_the_Sierra_Madre_(1927)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:15" }, { "id": "699c3622-c51b-4c38-ade0-b2030e7e7f04", "slug": "if-all-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven/the-death-ship/if-all-people", "text": "If all people had a decent job to occupy their minds, and regular meals to satisfy their hunger, most crimes would not be committed.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "B. Traven", "slug": "b-traven", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven" }, "book": { "title": "The Death Ship", "slug": "the-death-ship", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven/the-death-ship" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 159, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "crime", "slug": "crime-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/crime-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B._Traven#The_Death_Ship_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:15" }, { "id": "53615bad-cf25-47a7-be80-9752edef1fe2", "slug": "anyone-who-is-willing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre/anyone-who-is-willing", "text": "Anyone who is willing to work and is serious about it will certainly find a job. Only you must not go to the man who tells you this, for he has no job to offer and doesn't know anyone who knows of a vacancy. This is exactly the reason why he gives you such generous advice, out of brotherly love, and to demonstrate how little he knows the world.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "B. 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(p41)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maxine Hong Kingston", "slug": "maxine-hong-kingston", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston" }, "book": { "title": "China Men", "slug": "china-men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/china-men" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "education", "slug": "education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/education" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maxine_Hong_Kingston#China_Men_(1980)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:47" }, { "id": "64ffc2c0-ff13-4382-821c-f49ab62fba36", "slug": "the-sweat-of-hard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/the-woman-warrior/the-sweat-of-hard", "text": "The sweat of hard work is not to be displayed. It is much more graceful to appear favored by the gods. (p64)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maxine Hong Kingston", "slug": "maxine-hong-kingston", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston" }, "book": { "title": "The Woman Warrior", "slug": "the-woman-warrior", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/the-woman-warrior" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "appearances", "slug": "appearances", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/appearances" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maxine_Hong_Kingston#%22Shaman%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:47" }, { "id": "9388e04f-fb4b-48e0-ac30-86670cc97481", "slug": "there-is-an-automatic", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/eleven-kinds-of-loneliness/there-is-an-automatic", "text": "there is an automatic pleasure in watching a thing done well.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Yates", "slug": "richard-yates", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates" }, "book": { "title": "Eleven Kinds of Loneliness", "slug": "eleven-kinds-of-loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/eleven-kinds-of-loneliness" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 35, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Yates#Eleven_Kinds_of_Loneliness_(1962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:44" }, { "id": "bda3052e-65bb-4ab9-80bc-5048057d8a51", "slug": "try-to-remember", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/young-hearts-crying/try-to-remember", "text": "\"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.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Yates", "slug": "richard-yates", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates" }, "book": { "title": "Young Hearts Crying", "slug": "young-hearts-crying", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/young-hearts-crying" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 4, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Yates#Young_Hearts_Crying_(1984)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:43" }, { "id": "9af16980-8a92-4f5f-939c-5b7a8d0e27fa", "slug": "other-peoples-jobs", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/starfire/other-peoples-jobs", "text": "Other people’s jobs always seemed easier than yours until you actually had to do them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Sheffield", "slug": "charles-sheffield", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield" }, "book": { "title": "Starfire", "slug": "starfire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/starfire" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 146, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Starfire_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:35" }, { "id": "bd90d7e3-8ac6-4c70-81d8-0d529bd77798", "slug": "it-was-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/the-spheres-of-heaven/it-was-the", "text": "It was the classic question; you had two tasks to perform and one promised to be much harder and more unpleasant than the other. Did you tackle the tough one first and get it out of the way? Or did you postpone, and hope that before you came to the hard part you might be struck by a meteorite, or that a solar flare would wipe out life in the solar system?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Sheffield", "slug": "charles-sheffield", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield" }, "book": { "title": "The Spheres of Heaven", "slug": "the-spheres-of-heaven", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/the-spheres-of-heaven" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 135, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#The_Spheres_of_Heaven_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:34" }, { "id": "eecef22e-872b-44ef-b212-c638f4f395ad", "slug": "as-usual-he-looked", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/the-compleat-mcandrew/as-usual-he-looked", "text": "As usual he looked tired, but that was normal. Geniuses worked harder than anyone else, not less hard.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Sheffield", "slug": "charles-sheffield", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield" }, "book": { "title": "The Compleat McAndrew", "slug": "the-compleat-mcandrew", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/the-compleat-mcandrew" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 68, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "genius", "slug": "genius", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/genius" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#The_Compleat_McAndrew_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:31" }, { "id": "f23b34e5-e655-4cdc-a39a-215b5249a5d4", "slug": "the-greater-efficiency", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy/looking-backward/the-greater-efficiency", "text": "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.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edward Bellamy", "slug": "edward-bellamy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy" }, "book": { "title": "Looking Backward", "slug": "looking-backward", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy/looking-backward" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "education", "slug": "education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/education" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Looking_Backward:_2000%E2%80%931887#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:25" }, { "id": "7ad5673f-86df-4132-bade-276d9a3f2422", "slug": "he-was-if-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-tevis/the-man-who-fell-to-earth/he-was-if-not", "text": "He was, if not happy, too busy to be unhappy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Walter Tevis", "slug": "walter-tevis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-tevis" }, "book": { "title": "The Man Who Fell to Earth", "slug": "the-man-who-fell-to-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-tevis/the-man-who-fell-to-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 84, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Tevis#The_Man_Who_Fell_to_Earth_(1963)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:25" }, { "id": "aecd6530-2a75-47c9-b34b-01a140083d88", "slug": "its-like-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy/its-like-the", "text": "It's like the old dilemma: You can't get a job without experience, but you can't get experience because no one will give you a job.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marilyn Ferguson", "slug": "marilyn-ferguson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson" }, "book": { "title": "The Aquarian Conspiracy", "slug": "the-aquarian-conspiracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "experience", "slug": "experience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/experience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilyn_Ferguson#Chapter_Nine,_Flying_and_Seeing:_New_Ways_to_Learn", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:22" }, { "id": "3f03c01b-2967-4c78-8517-0fcb38af7576", "slug": "making-a-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy/making-a-life", "text": "Making a life, not just a living, is essential to one seeking wholeness. Our hunger turns out to be for something different, not something more. p. 323", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marilyn Ferguson", "slug": "marilyn-ferguson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson" }, "book": { "title": "The Aquarian Conspiracy", "slug": "the-aquarian-conspiracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilyn_Ferguson#Chapter_Ten,_The_Transformation_of_Values_and_Vocation", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:22" }, { "id": "68dd66a1-b089-4e0c-b158-713499118b30", "slug": "companies-die-because", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arie-de-geus/the-living-company/companies-die-because", "text": "Companies die because their managers focus on the economic activity of producing goods and services, and they forget that their organizations' true nature is that of a community of humans.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arie de Geus", "slug": "arie-de-geus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arie-de-geus" }, "book": { "title": "The Living Company", "slug": "the-living-company", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arie-de-geus/the-living-company" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 3, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "community", "slug": "community", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/community" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arie_de_Geus#The_Living_Company,_1997", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:10" }, { "id": "f88b6c59-8d79-4512-a6ee-bbfbfd27cb9d", "slug": "you-might-look", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nigel-cumberland/100-things-successful-people-do/you-might-look", "text": "You might look at someone successful and think they got lucky – a case of being in the right place at the right time perhaps? The truth is, every piece of good fortune is the result of hours, or even years, of hard work and preparation.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nigel Cumberland", "slug": "nigel-cumberland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nigel-cumberland" }, "book": { "title": "100 Things Successful People Do", "slug": "100-things-successful-people-do", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nigel-cumberland/100-things-successful-people-do" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "success and failure", "slug": "success-and-failure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/success-and-failure" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nigel_Cumberland#100_Things_Successful_People_Do:_Little_Exercises_for_Successful_Living_(2016)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:07" }, { "id": "5b72c9f1-0b51-4afb-94d3-717a8015ee7b", "slug": "i-would-rather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-st-john-mandel/sea-of-tranquility/i-would-rather", "text": "I would rather do a dangerous job than a job that makes me comatose with boredom.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Emily St John Mandel", "slug": "emily-st-john-mandel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-st-john-mandel" }, "book": { "title": "Sea of Tranquility", "slug": "sea-of-tranquility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-st-john-mandel/sea-of-tranquility" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 146, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "boredom", "slug": "boredom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/boredom" }, { "name": "risk", "slug": "risk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/risk" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emily_St._John_Mandel#Sea_of_Tranquility_(2022)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:51" }, { "id": "9a722148-7491-4b3c-a916-c3fd3342d827", "slug": "i-have-sought", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/olive-schreiner/the-story-of-an-african-farm/i-have-sought", "text": "“I have sought,” he said, “for long years I have laboured; but I have not found her. I have not rested, I have not repined, and I have not seen her; now my strength is gone. Where I lie down worn out other men will stand, young and fresh. By the steps that I have cut they will climb; by the stairs that I have built they will mount. They will never know the name of the man who made them. At the clumsy work they will laugh; when the stones roll they will curse me. But they will mount, and on my work; they will climb, and by my stair! They will find her, and through me! And no man liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Olive Schreiner", "slug": "olive-schreiner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/olive-schreiner" }, "book": { "title": "The Story of an African Farm", "slug": "the-story-of-an-african-farm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/olive-schreiner/the-story-of-an-african-farm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "legacy", "slug": "legacy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/legacy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Olive_Schreiner#The_Story_of_an_African_Farm_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:50" }, { "id": "d415569e-ab6c-43f4-8365-3ebf66cf0ff0", "slug": "i-had-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/on-the-steel-breeze/i-had-work", "text": "I had work to be getting on with. I’ve always had work to be getting on with. It’s what the universe was put there for: to give me things to do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alastair Reynolds", "slug": "alastair-reynolds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds" }, "book": { "title": "On the Steel Breeze", "slug": "on-the-steel-breeze", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/on-the-steel-breeze" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 523, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#On_the_Steel_Breeze_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:42" }, { "id": "687c72cb-03d0-4225-8945-d083750329b8", "slug": "let-us-sell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton/cry-the-beloved-country/let-us-sell", "text": "...let us sell our labour for what it is worth. And if an industry cannot buy our labour, let that industry die. But let us not sell our labour cheap to keep an industry alive.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alan Paton", "slug": "alan-paton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton" }, "book": { "title": "Cry, The Beloved Country", "slug": "cry-the-beloved-country", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton/cry-the-beloved-country" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Paton#Cry,_the_Beloved_Country,_(1948)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:29" }, { "id": "328eb93c-6447-45fb-952c-6bbad5f63525", "slug": "we-do-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton/cry-the-beloved-country/we-do-not", "text": "We do not work for men. We work for the land and the people. We do not even work for money.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alan Paton", "slug": "alan-paton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton" }, "book": { "title": "Cry, The Beloved Country", "slug": "cry-the-beloved-country", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton/cry-the-beloved-country" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Paton#Cry,_the_Beloved_Country,_(1948)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:29" }, { "id": "0a9a5123-125d-4b64-a619-330a7f98b2d2", "slug": "lir-chiseled-at-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/the-castle-of-dark/lir-chiseled-at-the", "text": "Lir chiseled at the stone. It would take a month to make a perceptible impression on it. He had a few hours. Work harder, then.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tanith Lee", "slug": "tanith-lee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee" }, "book": { "title": "The Castle of Dark", "slug": "the-castle-of-dark", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/the-castle-of-dark" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 119, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tanith_Lee#The_Castle_of_Dark_(1978)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:22" }, { "id": "ca3efdd4-1b3d-4fcc-be02-1ec209ac232b", "slug": "the-emerging-picture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-levitin/this-is-your-brain-on-music/the-emerging-picture", "text": "The emerging picture from... studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of master associated with being a world-class expert—in anything.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Daniel Levitin", "slug": "daniel-levitin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-levitin" }, "book": { "title": "This Is Your Brain on Music", "slug": "this-is-your-brain-on-music", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-levitin/this-is-your-brain-on-music" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Levitin#This_is_Your_Brain_on_Music_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:10" }, { "id": "b5b8975b-3661-458b-b13e-230c96b4c6dd", "slug": "machines-no-matter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-twelve-hawks/spark/machines-no-matter", "text": "Machines, no matter how sophisticated, can only follow programs. If we sleepwalk through our lives, then we’re no better than machines. Only humans are capable of a job done well -- which means thinking about the consequences of our actions. A job done well pays the bills, but it also improves the lives of everyone around us.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Twelve Hawks", "slug": "john-twelve-hawks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-twelve-hawks" }, "book": { "title": "Spark", "slug": "spark", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-twelve-hawks/spark" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Twelve_Hawks#Spark_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:00" }, { "id": "f5f87ea7-0e7e-4385-bd88-af735f1fc563", "slug": "the-most-important", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees/the-most-important", "text": "The most important affair in life is the choice of a calling; chance decides it. Custom makes men masons, soldiers, slaters. ...We choose our callings according as we hear this or that praised or despised in our childhood, for we naturally love truth and hate folly. ...It is custom then which... constrains nature. But sometimes nature gains the ascendancy, and preserves man's instinct, in spite of all custom, good or bad.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Blaise Pascal", "slug": "blaise-pascal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal" }, "book": { "title": "Pensees", "slug": "pensees", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "habits", "slug": "habits", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/habits" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pens%C3%A9es#Section_II:_The_Misery_of_Man_without_God_(60-183)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:47" }, { "id": "a29deabc-afc4-4697-b8fc-8e11738f57a3", "slug": "success-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-verghese/the-covenant-of-water/success-is-not", "text": "Success is not money! Success is you are fully loving what you are doing. That only is success!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Abraham Verghese", "slug": "abraham-verghese", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-verghese" }, "book": { "title": "The Covenant of Water", "slug": "the-covenant-of-water", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-verghese/the-covenant-of-water" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Verghese#The_Covenant_of_Water_(2023)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:39" }, { "id": "d31c285e-fb54-4fab-8a06-cc8979a9365b", "slug": "maybe-i-dont", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks/safe-haven/maybe-i-dont", "text": "\"Maybe I don't want to be defined by what I do. Maybe I'd like to be defined by what I am.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nicholas Sparks", "slug": "nicholas-sparks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks" }, "book": { "title": "Safe Haven", "slug": "safe-haven", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks/safe-haven" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 236, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "identity", "slug": "identity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicholas_Sparks#Safe_Haven_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:25" }, { "id": "c8f9f960-2938-455a-ae9d-279b6cce803b", "slug": "so-many-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks/the-rescue/so-many-people", "text": "So many people these days, it seemed, believed that these things (personal fulfillment and self-esteem) could come only from work, not from parenting, and many people believed that having children had nothing to do with raising them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nicholas Sparks", "slug": "nicholas-sparks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks" }, "book": { "title": "The Rescue", "slug": "the-rescue", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks/the-rescue" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 200, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "parents", "slug": "parents", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/parents" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicholas_Sparks#The_Rescue_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:20" }, { "id": "d807e184-80d7-4782-b34c-5c022c4a3349", "slug": "though-the-ancient", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-jacoby/the-end-of-utopia/though-the-ancient", "text": "Though the ancient world understood that work was a curse, modern industrial society spreads its gospel. The working class, Lafargue hopelessly hoped, must reject the work fetish.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Russell Jacoby", "slug": "russell-jacoby", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-jacoby" }, "book": { "title": "The End Of Utopia", "slug": "the-end-of-utopia", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-jacoby/the-end-of-utopia" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 26, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Russell_Jacoby#The_End_of_Utopia_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:06" }, { "id": "c3ea2759-1251-49a5-a4a2-98aabaef8af5", "slug": "as-part-of-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene/the-laws-of-human-nature/as-part-of-this", "text": "As part of this experiment we must not only accept human nature but work with what we have to make it productive. We inevitably feel the need for status and recognition, so let’s not deny it. Instead, let’s cultivate such status and recognition through our excellent work. We must accept our need to belong to the group and prove our loyalty, but let’s do it in more positive ways—by questioning group decisions that will harm it in the long run, by supplying divergent opinions, by steering the group in a more rational direction, gently and strategically.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Greene", "slug": "robert-greene", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene" }, "book": { "title": "The Laws of Human Nature", "slug": "the-laws-of-human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene/the-laws-of-human-nature" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "ambition", "slug": "ambition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ambition" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Greene_(American_author)#The_Laws_of_Human_Nature_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:59" }, { "id": "353f6bce-b6bb-4d6b-a0ac-9c2bb4ab596e", "slug": "if-you-would", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons/if-you-would", "text": "If you would savor the sweet taste of the fruit, you must water the tree,", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Dance with Dragons", "slug": "a-dance-with-dragons", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "patience", "slug": "patience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/patience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Dance_with_Dragons_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:55" }, { "id": "ebb79aa4-b726-4051-9263-78fd07698ccb", "slug": "any-act-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-storm-of-swords/any-act-can", "text": "Any act can be a prayer, if done as well as we are able.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Storm of Swords", "slug": "a-storm-of-swords", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-storm-of-swords" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "prayer", "slug": "prayer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/prayer" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Storm_of_Swords_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:50" }, { "id": "c839a659-78b2-4368-91f8-fcc492c76dbd", "slug": "even-a-modest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-graeber/bullshit-jobs/even-a-modest", "text": "Even a modest Basic Income program could become a stepping-stone toward the most profound transformation of all: to unlatch work from livelihood entirely.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Graeber", "slug": "david-graeber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-graeber" }, "book": { "title": "Bullshit Jobs", "slug": "bullshit-jobs", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-graeber/bullshit-jobs" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Graeber#Bullshit_Jobs:_A_Theory_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:39" }, { "id": "a87c44ba-09bf-4e4c-9aee-50edac19d92f", "slug": "how-do-we-create", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-graeber/bullshit-jobs/how-do-we-create", "text": "How do we create only games that we actually feel like playing, because we can opt out at any time? In the economic field, at least, the answer is obvious. All of the gratuitous sadism of workplace politics depends on one’s inability to say “I quit” and feel no economic consequences.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Graeber", "slug": "david-graeber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-graeber" }, "book": { "title": "Bullshit Jobs", "slug": "bullshit-jobs", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-graeber/bullshit-jobs" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Graeber#Bullshit_Jobs:_A_Theory_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:39" }, { "id": "6ed68ac6-06e9-4c22-bfdf-3532955f811b", "slug": "that-nothing-could", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side/that-nothing-could", "text": "That nothing could lower human dignity faster than manual labor was understood. ‘Go get yourself a lunch bucket and get back in your ditch’ was the ultimate insult on Perdido Street.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "A Walk On The Wild Side", "slug": "a-walk-on-the-wild-side", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "prejudice", "slug": "prejudice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/prejudice" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Walk_on_the_Wild_Side#Chapter_2", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:24" }, { "id": "f834e85d-bdb5-4563-824a-8ff4d6577e3a", "slug": "he-was-simply", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/the-man-with-the-golden-arm/he-was-simply", "text": "He was simply a man who didn't know what to do with himself, for he didn't yet know who he was. It's sometimes easier to find a job than to find oneself and John hadn't yet gotten around to doing the first. How could he know who he was? Some find themselves through joy, some through suffering and some through toil. Johnny had till now tried nothing but whisky. A process which left him feeling like somebody new every day. / [...] He was many men and no man at all. He was a hysterical little bundle of possibilities that could never come true.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "The Man with the Golden Arm", "slug": "the-man-with-the-golden-arm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/the-man-with-the-golden-arm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "identity", "slug": "identity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity" }, { "name": "self-knowledge", "slug": "self-knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-knowledge" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Golden_Arm#Part_1._Rumors_of_Evening", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:22" }, { "id": "fd909ebc-a242-4c1d-8202-ed1fc42eae86", "slug": "in-my-dreams", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/scott-lynch/the-republic-of-thieves/in-my-dreams", "text": "“In my dreams I sign chits and file papers,” Nikoros muttered. “Then I awake to sign real chits and file real papers. I imagine my grave marker will be carved as a writing desk. ‘Here lies Nikoros Via Lupa, wifeless and heirless, but gods how he could alphabetize!’”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Scott Lynch", "slug": "scott-lynch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/scott-lynch" }, "book": { "title": "The Republic of Thieves", "slug": "the-republic-of-thieves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/scott-lynch/the-republic-of-thieves" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 582, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Scott_Lynch#The_Republic_of_Thieves_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:19" }, { "id": "974215a1-4bae-43f4-a0c4-d59b2f8a2727", "slug": "i-mean-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elaine-dundy/the-dud-avocado/i-mean-the", "text": "I mean, the question actors most often get asked is how they can bear saying the same things over and over again night after night, but God knows the answer to that is, don’t we all anyway; might as well get paid for it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Elaine Dundy", "slug": "elaine-dundy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elaine-dundy" }, "book": { "title": "The Dud Avocado", "slug": "the-dud-avocado", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elaine-dundy/the-dud-avocado" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elaine_Dundy#The_Dud_Avocado_(1958)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:09" }, { "id": "efeb6e57-6449-4b8b-ac91-939f66aba694", "slug": "symons-remarked-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work/symons-remarked-that", "text": "Symons … remarked that the most common and unhelpful illusion plaguing those who came to see him was the idea that they ought somehow, in the normal course of events, to have intuited—long before they had finished their degrees, started families, bought houses and risen to the top of law firms—what they should properly be doing with their lives. They were tormented by a residual notion of having through some error or stupidity on their part missed out on their true calling.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "slug": "the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 113, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "vocation", "slug": "vocation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/vocation" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Pleasures_and_Sorrows_of_Work_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:08" }, { "id": "cc386604-b384-4192-9b19-4a72a2a5948c", "slug": "i-left-symonss", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work/i-left-symonss", "text": "I left Symons’s company newly aware of the unthinking cruelty discreetly coiled within the magnanimous bourgeois assurance that everyone can discover happiness through work and love. It isn’t that these two entities are invariably incapable of delivering fulfilment, only that they almost never do so. And when an exception is represented as a rule, our individual misfortunes, instead of seeming to us quasi-inevitable aspects of life, will weigh down on us like particular curses. In denying the natural place reserved for longing and error in the human lot, the bourgeois ideology denies us the possibility of collective consolation for our fractious marriages and our unexploited ambitions, and condemns us instead to solitary feelings of shame and persecution for having stubbornly failed to become who we are.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "slug": "the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 127, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Pleasures_and_Sorrows_of_Work_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:08" }, { "id": "b6896345-af73-4624-ac41-78f0fdc29e2c", "slug": "the-start-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work/the-start-of-work", "text": "The start of work means the end to freedom, but also to doubt, intensity and wayward desires. The accountant’s ten thousand possibilities have been reduced to an agreeable handful. She has a business card which she hands over in meetings and which tells other people—and, more meaningfully perhaps, reminds her—that she is a Business Unit Senior manager, rather than a vaporous transient consciousness in an incidental universe. How satisfying it is to be held in check by the assumptions of colleagues, instead of being forced to contemplate, in the loneliness of the early hours, all that one might have been and now never will be. … Life is no longer mysterious, sad, haunting, touching, confusing or melancholy; it is a practical stage for clear-eyed action.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "slug": "the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 238, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Pleasures_and_Sorrows_of_Work_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:08" }, { "id": "aee5fe95-5311-4c59-8556-27effb92db9a", "slug": "the-real-issue", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work/the-real-issue", "text": "The real issue is not whether baking biscuits is meaningful, but the extent to which the activity can seem to be so after it has been continuously stretched and subdivided across five thousand lives.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "slug": "the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 80, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Pleasures_and_Sorrows_of_Work_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:08" }, { "id": "9bd783ff-5224-45b0-a4e4-f7d4ac94ad58", "slug": "workers-were-occupied", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work/workers-were-occupied", "text": "Workers were occupied with the ancient task of trying to stay alive, which simply happened to require, in a consumer economy overwhelmingly based on the satisfaction of peripheral desires, a series of activities all to easily confused with clownishness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "slug": "the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 97, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "consumerism", "slug": "consumerism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consumerism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Pleasures_and_Sorrows_of_Work_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:08" }, { "id": "8836112b-042c-4370-8f45-b7c41dbc040f", "slug": "the-unremitting-division", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work/the-unremitting-division", "text": "The unremitting division of labour resulted in admirable levels of productivity. The company’s success appeared to bear out the principles of efficiency laid down at the turn of the twentieth century by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who theorized that a society would grow wealthy to the extent that its members forfeited general knowledge in favour of fostering individual ability in narrowly constricted fields. In an ideal Paretan economy, jobs would be ever more finely subdivided to allow for the accumulation of complex skills, which would then be traded among workers. … But however great the economic advantages of segmenting the elements of an afternoon’s work into a range of forty-year-long careers, there was reason to wonder about the unintended side effects of doing so. In particular, one felt tempted to ask … how meaningful the lives might feel as a result.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "slug": "the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Pleasures_and_Sorrows_of_Work_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:08" }, { "id": "29b98150-08a4-4563-9d71-93cda7d0495f", "slug": "death-is-hard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work/death-is-hard", "text": "Death is hard to keep in mind when there is work to be done. … Work does not by its nature permit us to do anything other than take it too seriously. It must destroy our sense of perspective, and we should be grateful to it for precisely this reason, for allowing us to mingle ourselves promiscuously with events, for letting us wear thoughts of our own death and the destruction of our enterprises with beautiful lightness, as mere intellectual propositions. … We function of the basis of a necessary myopia. Therein is the sheer energy of existence, a blind will no less impressive than that which we find in a moth arduously crossing a window ledge, … refusing to contemplate the broader scheme in which he will be dead by nightfall. The arguments for our triviality and vulnerability are too obvious, too well known and tedious to rehearse. What is interesting is that we may take it upon ourselves to approach tasks with utter determination and gravity even when their wider non-sense is clear. The impulse to exaggerate the significance of what we are doing, far from being an intellectual error, is really life itself coursing through us.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "slug": "the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 324, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Pleasures_and_Sorrows_of_Work_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:08" }, { "id": "1c5af0e6-134f-40a4-a336-9b6992a07aed", "slug": "it-would-be-foolish", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work/it-would-be-foolish", "text": "It would be foolish to describe the logistics hub as merely ugly, for it has the horrifying, soulless, immaculate beauty characteristic of many of the workplaces of the modern world.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "slug": "the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-work" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 39, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "beauty", "slug": "beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Pleasures_and_Sorrows_of_Work_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:08" }, { "id": "23ce1ca8-6498-43a5-9841-3cbce15f7a20", "slug": "it-would-scarcely", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-consolations-of-philosophy/it-would-scarcely", "text": "It would scarcely be acceptable, for example, to ask in the course of an ordinary conversation what our society holds to be the purpose of work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alain de Botton", "slug": "alain-de-botton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton" }, "book": { "title": "The Consolations of Philosophy", "slug": "the-consolations-of-philosophy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alain-de-botton/the-consolations-of-philosophy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 9, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton#The_Consolations_of_Philosophy_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:07" }, { "id": "2ceb0b05-7f07-44a6-984f-c2097e65516f", "slug": "i-have-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-i-schiller/living-in-the-number-one-country/i-have-never", "text": "I have never forgotten how the deprivation of work erodes human beings, those not working and those related to them. And from that time on, I loathed an economic that could put a huge part of its workforce on the streets with no compunction.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herbert I. Schiller", "slug": "herbert-i-schiller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-i-schiller" }, "book": { "title": "Living in the Number One Country", "slug": "living-in-the-number-one-country", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-i-schiller/living-in-the-number-one-country" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 12, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herbert_Schiller#Living_In_The_Number_One_Country_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:06" }, { "id": "1fe25b58-0169-449f-b580-068775c39f99", "slug": "funny-thing-employment", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/n-k-jemisin/the-kingdom-of-gods/funny-thing-employment", "text": "Funny thing, employment. If you keep doing it, you keep getting paid.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "N. K. Jemisin", "slug": "n-k-jemisin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/n-k-jemisin" }, "book": { "title": "The Kingdom Of Gods", "slug": "the-kingdom-of-gods", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/n-k-jemisin/the-kingdom-of-gods" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 308, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/N._K._Jemisin#The_Kingdom_of_Gods_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:49" }, { "id": "ad44fb2c-66fd-448e-885b-56e8d837b0e4", "slug": "the-best-way", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis/flash-boys/the-best-way", "text": "The best way to manage people, he thought, was to convince them that you were good for their careers. He further believed that the only way to get people to believe that you were good for their careers was actually to be good for their careers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Lewis", "slug": "michael-lewis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis" }, "book": { "title": "Flash Boys", "slug": "flash-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis/flash-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 26, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "leadership", "slug": "leadership", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Lewis_(author)#Flash_Boys_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:41" }, { "id": "946ac48c-158f-4f11-bc39-245e1dfdefbc", "slug": "im-not-a-joiner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers/hide-me-among-the-graves/im-not-a-joiner", "text": "I’m not a joiner. Any time you work with people, they turn out to be inept clowns.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tim Powers", "slug": "tim-powers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers" }, "book": { "title": "Hide Me Among the Graves", "slug": "hide-me-among-the-graves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers/hide-me-among-the-graves" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 141, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tim_Powers#Hide_Me_Among_the_Graves_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:39" }, { "id": "afdf7d49-035d-4d8d-9e68-f9563effcaef", "slug": "sport-carries-on-without", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jacques-ellul/the-technological-society/sport-carries-on-without", "text": "Sport carries on without deviation the mechanical tradition of furnishing relief and distraction to the worker after he has finished his work proper so that he is at no time independent of one technique or another. In sport the citizen of the technical society finds the same spirit, criteria, morality, actions and objectives—in short, all the technical laws and customs—which he encounters in office or factory.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jacques Ellul", "slug": "jacques-ellul", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jacques-ellul" }, "book": { "title": "The Technological Society", "slug": "the-technological-society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jacques-ellul/the-technological-society" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 384, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "sport", "slug": "sport", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sport" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Ellul#The_Technological_Society_(1954)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:02" }, { "id": "6559377c-154b-496b-9614-c3897f86f207", "slug": "there-are-few", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt/odyssey/there-are-few", "text": "There are few professions whose primary objective is to advance the cause of humanity rather than simply to make money or accrue power. Among this limited group of humanitarians I would number teachers, nurses, bookstore owners, and bartenders.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Mcdevitt", "slug": "jack-mcdevitt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt" }, "book": { "title": "Odyssey", "slug": "odyssey", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt/odyssey" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 124, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "altruism", "slug": "altruism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_McDevitt#Odyssey_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:58" }, { "id": "24066851-9e28-4ae9-ac81-46ff418ad99d", "slug": "the-ardents-who", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/the-way-of-kings/the-ardents-who", "text": "The ardents who passed through town were careful to explain that the Calling of a farmer was a noble one, one of the highest save for the Calling of a soldier. Kal’s father whispered under his breath that he saw far more honor in feeding the kingdom than he did in fighting and dying in useless wars.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Brandon Sanderson", "slug": "brandon-sanderson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson" }, "book": { "title": "The Way of Kings", "slug": "the-way-of-kings", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/the-way-of-kings" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 245, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "honour", "slug": "honour", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/honour" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson#The_Way_of_Kings_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:35" }, { "id": "e4c392cf-d311-4163-9b7e-1a3bab140465", "slug": "they-needed-to-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/elantris/they-needed-to-work", "text": "They needed to work and improve their own lives, not wait for some external miracle.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Brandon Sanderson", "slug": "brandon-sanderson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson" }, "book": { "title": "Elantris", "slug": "elantris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/elantris" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 402, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson#Elantris_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:33" }, { "id": "ead9ae30-e396-4fa0-9226-2c8ecc418fe4", "slug": "there-is-no-intrinsick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville/the-fable-of-the-bees/there-is-no-intrinsick", "text": "There is no Intrinsick Worth in Money but what is alterable with the Times, and whether a Guinea goes for Twenty Pounds or for a Shilling, it is … the Labour of the Poor, and not the high and low value that is set on Gold or Silver, which all the Comforts of Life must arise from.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Bernard Mandeville", "slug": "bernard-mandeville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville" }, "book": { "title": "The Fable of the Bees", "slug": "the-fable-of-the-bees", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville/the-fable-of-the-bees" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 345, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bernard_Mandeville#The_Fable_of_the_Bees_(1714)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:27" }, { "id": "422e6eb3-b775-4d59-b0bf-7f535153544e", "slug": "incompetence-is-rewarded", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-lindsay/darkly-dreaming-dexter/incompetence-is-rewarded", "text": "Incompetence is rewarded more often than not.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jeff Lindsay", "slug": "jeff-lindsay", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-lindsay" }, "book": { "title": "Darkly Dreaming Dexter", "slug": "darkly-dreaming-dexter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-lindsay/darkly-dreaming-dexter" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "irony", "slug": "irony", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jeff_Lindsay_(writer)#Darkly_Dreaming_Dexter_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:25" }, { "id": "fa4a8433-e7d1-4c49-b78e-4ee3cf5c35ba", "slug": "valuing-family-more", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth/faith-and-politics/valuing-family-more", "text": "Valuing family more than job gives perspectives to politics. It puts the politician in the proper place, which is somewhere less than being the self-perceived agent of God. If family comes first, the politician needs to find ways to make that clear- by words, symbols and actions. The politician must make the effort. By its nature, the job will not do it for him.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Danforth", "slug": "john-danforth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth" }, "book": { "title": "Faith and Politics", "slug": "faith-and-politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth/faith-and-politics" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 125, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "family", "slug": "family", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/family" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Danforth#Faith_and_Politics_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:22" }, { "id": "b7289925-0494-4bcc-8ef2-3c69e1342a94", "slug": "work-as-if-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alasdair-gray/unlikely-stories-mostly/work-as-if-you", "text": "Work as if you were in the early days of a better nation.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alasdair Gray", "slug": "alasdair-gray", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alasdair-gray" }, "book": { "title": "Unlikely Stories, Mostly", "slug": "unlikely-stories-mostly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alasdair-gray/unlikely-stories-mostly" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "hope", "slug": "hope", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope" }, { "name": "homeland", "slug": "homeland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/homeland" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alasdair_Gray#Unlikely_Stories,_Mostly_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:21" }, { "id": "e7ec0a2a-a4f5-410d-b967-cd8238b5bea8", "slug": "if-i-ever", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/quicksand/if-i-ever", "text": "—If I ever get good at hospital politics, I think I shall start to hate myself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Brunner", "slug": "john-brunner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner" }, "book": { "title": "Quicksand", "slug": "quicksand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/quicksand" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 70, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brunner#Quicksand_(1967)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:08" }, { "id": "bec6db14-326e-4003-bcd5-668946b1b20d", "slug": "i-have-marched", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/the-black-cauldron/i-have-marched", "text": "\"I have marched in many a battle host,\" Adaon answered quietly, \"but I have also planted seeds and reaped the harvest with my own hands. And I have learned there is greater honor in a field well plowed than in a field steeped in blood.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lloyd Alexander", "slug": "lloyd-alexander", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander" }, "book": { "title": "The Black Cauldron", "slug": "the-black-cauldron", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/the-black-cauldron" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "peace", "slug": "peace", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/peace" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lloyd_Alexander#Book_II:_The_Black_Cauldron_(1965)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:07" }, { "id": "2b1ba984-44ae-4d49-98d3-ddad04f1cca7", "slug": "craftsmanship-isnt-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/taran-wanderer/craftsmanship-isnt-like", "text": "Craftsmanship isn’t like water in an earthen pot, to be taken out by the dipperful until it’s empty. No, the more drawn out the more remains.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lloyd Alexander", "slug": "lloyd-alexander", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander" }, "book": { "title": "Taran Wanderer", "slug": "taran-wanderer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/taran-wanderer" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "talent", "slug": "talent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lloyd_Alexander#Book_IV:_Taran_Wanderer_(1967)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:07" }, { "id": "65a6e820-342f-4ef4-9bc3-0bebf84194f4", "slug": "becoming-a-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/warren-farrell/women-cant-hear-what-men-dont-say/becoming-a-human", "text": "Becoming a human doing was exactly what society needed. But for an individual man, becoming a human doing was his undoing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Warren Farrell", "slug": "warren-farrell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/warren-farrell" }, "book": { "title": "Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say", "slug": "women-cant-hear-what-men-dont-say", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/warren-farrell/women-cant-hear-what-men-dont-say" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "men", "slug": "men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/men" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Farrell#Women_Can't_Hear_What_Men_Don't_Say_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:05" }, { "id": "0fe07f7e-5091-4a8b-96f0-81d6aff4d927", "slug": "mens-pay-paid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/warren-farrell/women-cant-hear-what-men-dont-say/mens-pay-paid", "text": "Men’s pay paid women to love and nurture, to connect and feel. To be nurturer-connectors. In contrast, men received their pay by being some form of killer-protector. By becoming a human doing (a captain or a coal miner), not a human being (a person who feels happy or sad).", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Warren Farrell", "slug": "warren-farrell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/warren-farrell" }, "book": { "title": "Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say", "slug": "women-cant-hear-what-men-dont-say", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/warren-farrell/women-cant-hear-what-men-dont-say" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "men", "slug": "men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/men" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Farrell#Women_Can't_Hear_What_Men_Don't_Say_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:05" }, { "id": "e960d513-aac1-41e9-99ba-6148a22c7660", "slug": "the-ibo-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/things-fall-apart/the-ibo-people", "text": "The Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also. Okonkwo said yes very strongly, so his chi agreed. And not only his chi but his clan too, because it judged a man by the work of his hands.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chinua Achebe", "slug": "chinua-achebe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe" }, "book": { "title": "Things Fall Apart", "slug": "things-fall-apart", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/things-fall-apart" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 29, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe#Things_Fall_Apart_(1958)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:54" }, { "id": "1f0b6f01-9004-431a-a5b1-56bba5c412ae", "slug": "laborare-est-orare", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney/religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism/laborare-est-orare", "text": "Laborare est orare. [To work is to pray.] By the Puritan moralist the ancient maxim is repeated with a new and intenser significance. The labor which he idealizes is not simply a requirement imposed by nature, or a punishment for the sin of Adam. It is itself a kind of ascetic discipline, more rigorous than that demanded of any order of mendicants—a discipline imposed by the will of God, and to be undergone, not in solitude, but in the punctual discharge of secular duties. It is not merely an economic means, to be laid aside when physical needs have been satisfied. It is a spiritual end, for in it alone can the soul find health, and it must be continued as an ethical duty long after it has ceased to be a material necessity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "R. H. Tawney", "slug": "r-h-tawney", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney" }, "book": { "title": "Religion and the Rise of Capitalism", "slug": "religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney/religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._H._Tawney#Religion_and_the_Rise_of_Capitalism_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:49" }, { "id": "757fb7c9-b52f-4615-9135-c1cea1985d36", "slug": "dont-complain-just", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture/dont-complain-just", "text": "Don't complain; just work harder.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Randy Pausch", "slug": "randy-pausch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch" }, "book": { "title": "The Last Lecture", "slug": "the-last-lecture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "complaining", "slug": "complaining", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/complaining" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch#The_Last_Lecture_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:46" }, { "id": "509d6789-633c-411c-b0dd-c244bdf496ff", "slug": "junior-faculty-members", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture/junior-faculty-members", "text": "Junior faculty members used to come up to me and say. \"Wow, you got tenure early; what's your secret?\" I said, \"It's pretty simple, call me any Friday night in my office at 10 o'clock and I'll tell you.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Randy Pausch", "slug": "randy-pausch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch" }, "book": { "title": "The Last Lecture", "slug": "the-last-lecture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch#The_Last_Lecture_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:46" }, { "id": "0ca0c7c0-4a5d-4262-be9b-f070d69244b9", "slug": "a-person-who", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-bronte/wuthering-heights/a-person-who", "text": "A person who has not done one half his day's work by ten o'clock runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Emily Brontë", "slug": "emily-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "Wuthering Heights", "slug": "wuthering-heights", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-bronte/wuthering-heights" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:43" }, { "id": "829fa6e6-9e36-4551-9876-66ac9b78cf31", "slug": "if-i-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-s-hall/daily-negations/if-i-work", "text": "If I work hard and am rewarded, then I haven't really gained anything. It has been a trade: I've put in, and I've gotten back. Only if I am rewarded without having done anything have I actually come out ahead. The best way to gain the most is to do nothing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John S. Hall", "slug": "john-s-hall", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-s-hall" }, "book": { "title": "Daily Negations", "slug": "daily-negations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-s-hall/daily-negations" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_S._Hall#Quotes_from_Daily_Negations_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:40" }, { "id": "be86c311-ef70-47de-8dae-1f0bb45f41de", "slug": "with-sociology-one", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/malcolm-bradbury/eating-people-is-wrong/with-sociology-one", "text": "With sociology one can do anything and call it work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Malcolm Bradbury", "slug": "malcolm-bradbury", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/malcolm-bradbury" }, "book": { "title": "Eating People is Wrong", "slug": "eating-people-is-wrong", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/malcolm-bradbury/eating-people-is-wrong" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Malcolm_Bradbury#Eating_People_is_Wrong_(1959)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:37" }, { "id": "209df2b3-e1ec-4632-b74f-a95ff53d9b63", "slug": "man-came-into", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/the-confidence-man/man-came-into", "text": "Man came into this world, not to sit down and muse, not to befog himself with vain subtleties, but to gird up his loins and to work. Mystery is in the morning, and mystery in the night, and the beauty of mystery is everywhere; but still the plain truth remains, that mouth and purse must be filled. If, hitherto, you have supposed me a visionary, be undeceived. I am no one-ideaed one, either; no more than the seers before me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "The Confidence-Man", "slug": "the-confidence-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/the-confidence-man" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "secrets", "slug": "secrets", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/secrets" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Confidence-Man#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:34" }, { "id": "c987c4e3-747c-4693-85d5-d77ac3b7f15b", "slug": "all-office-workers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/the-post-office-girl/all-office-workers", "text": "All office workers are afraid of being late for work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stefan Zweig", "slug": "stefan-zweig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig" }, "book": { "title": "The Post-Office Girl", "slug": "the-post-office-girl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/the-post-office-girl" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig#The_Post_Office_Girl_(published_posthumously_in_1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:30" }, { "id": "020b351e-73ca-47d6-bda0-f443ad8f45cd", "slug": "the-word-service", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity/the-word-service", "text": "The word 'service' comes from serving, and serving means being dependent.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stefan Zweig", "slug": "stefan-zweig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig" }, "book": { "title": "Beware of Pity", "slug": "beware-of-pity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "independence", "slug": "independence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/independence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig#Beware_of_Pity_(1939)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:29" }, { "id": "c694d4e6-9847-48ce-9a9f-218f5313b5e4", "slug": "the-possibility-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/temple-grandin/thinking-in-pictures/the-possibility-that", "text": "The possibility that a void exists after death has motivated me to work hard so I can make a difference — so that my thoughts and ideas will not die. When I was working on my Ph.D., a coworker in our lab told me that the world's libraries contain our extra soma, or out-of-body genes. Ideas are passed on like genes, and I have a great urge to spread my ideas. I read an article in the newspaper about an official at the New York Public Library who said that the only place on earth where immortality is provided is in libraries. This is the collective memory of humanity. I put this on a sign and placed it over my desk. It helped me to persevere and get through my Ph.D. work. (p199)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Temple Grandin", "slug": "temple-grandin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/temple-grandin" }, "book": { "title": "Thinking in Pictures", "slug": "thinking-in-pictures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/temple-grandin/thinking-in-pictures" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "ideas", "slug": "ideas", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ideas" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin#Thinking_in_Pictures:_My_Life_with_Autism_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:26" }, { "id": "6054a22a-e020-4729-accf-ea843ba79766", "slug": "curious-how-any", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/beyond-infinity/curious-how-any", "text": "Curious, how any tool properly made acquires a beauty.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory Benford", "slug": "gregory-benford", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford" }, "book": { "title": "Beyond Infinity", "slug": "beyond-infinity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/beyond-infinity" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 193, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "beauty", "slug": "beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gregory_Benford#Beyond_Infinity_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:25" }, { "id": "c710ec5e-c6dd-49df-9281-e4b444ab85dd", "slug": "after-weeks-of-indoor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/the-sunborn/after-weeks-of-indoor", "text": "After weeks of indoor work it actually felt good to be doing something—clean, direct, muscles and mind.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory Benford", "slug": "gregory-benford", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford" }, "book": { "title": "The Sunborn", "slug": "the-sunborn", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/the-sunborn" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 38, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "taking action", "slug": "taking-action", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/taking-action" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gregory_Benford#The_Sunborn_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:24" }, { "id": "7b0d3ed7-7132-42e3-87b2-2dc5a9923917", "slug": "they-will-do-anything", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/timescape/they-will-do-anything", "text": "They will do anything for the worker, except become one.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory Benford", "slug": "gregory-benford", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford" }, "book": { "title": "Timescape", "slug": "timescape", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/timescape" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 46, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "hypocrisy", "slug": "hypocrisy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gregory_Benford#Timescape_(1980)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:21" }, { "id": "a6962ee0-15cf-44ae-a20b-f0bdf6b2bead", "slug": "your-true-pilot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/life-on-the-mississippi/your-true-pilot", "text": "Your true pilot cares nothing about anything on earth but the river, and his pride in his occupation surpasses the pride of kings.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mark Twain", "slug": "mark-twain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain" }, "book": { "title": "Life on the Mississippi", "slug": "life-on-the-mississippi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/life-on-the-mississippi" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Life_on_the_Mississippi#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:20" }, { "id": "1487cd81-1e74-4ac4-8326-f9fb81b1a984", "slug": "no-the-romance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/life-on-the-mississippi/no-the-romance", "text": "No, the romance and beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. Since those days, I have pitied doctors from my heart. What does the lovely flush in a beauty's cheek mean to a doctor but a \"break\" that ripples above some deadly disease? Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesn't he simply view her professionally, and comment upon her unwholesome condition all to himself? And doesn't he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mark Twain", "slug": "mark-twain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain" }, "book": { "title": "Life on the Mississippi", "slug": "life-on-the-mississippi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/life-on-the-mississippi" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "beauty", "slug": "beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Life_on_the_Mississippi#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:20" }, { "id": "69890ccb-6b4c-4060-9518-9a2a0bdf6b6e", "slug": "personal-unpleasantness-always", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nevil-shute/no-highway/personal-unpleasantness-always", "text": "Personal unpleasantness always upset his work; he could not think clearly if his mind was full of hard things that had been said about him, and he liked thinking clearly. Rows frightened him; he would go to considerable lengths to avoid them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nevil Shute", "slug": "nevil-shute", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nevil-shute" }, "book": { "title": "No Highway", "slug": "no-highway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nevil-shute/no-highway" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 165, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "arguments", "slug": "arguments", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/arguments" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nevil_Shute#No_Highway_(1948)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:44" }, { "id": "c3b37dc8-58cd-4197-9e50-8c5e985bea09", "slug": "thats-the-attraction", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-lodge/small-world/thats-the-attraction", "text": "That's the attraction of the conference circuit: it's a way of converting work into play, combining professionalism with tourism, and all at someone else's expense. Write a paper and see the world! I'm Jane Austen – fly me!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Lodge", "slug": "david-lodge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-lodge" }, "book": { "title": "Small World", "slug": "small-world", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-lodge/small-world" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 231, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "travel", "slug": "travel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/travel" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Lodge#Small_World_(1984)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:39" }, { "id": "eb981f57-c976-4cdf-a70d-2ef990a5f3d7", "slug": "a-proper-autobiography", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-antin/the-promised-land/a-proper-autobiography", "text": "A proper autobiography is a death-bed confession. A true man finds so much work to do that he has no time to contemplate his yesterdays; for to-day and to-morrow are here, with their impatient tasks. The world is so busy, too, that it cannot afford to study any man's unfinished work; for the end may prove it a failure, and the world needs masterpieces.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mary Antin", "slug": "mary-antin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-antin" }, "book": { "title": "The Promised Land", "slug": "the-promised-land", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-antin/the-promised-land" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Antin#The_Promised_Land_(1912)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:33" }, { "id": "5c9a8de0-e94a-4ddb-bece-edbcaec4e9f5", "slug": "theres-nothing-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall/theres-nothing-like", "text": "There's nothing like active employment to console the afflicted.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Brontë", "slug": "anne-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", "slug": "the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Bront%C3%AB#The_Tenant_of_Wildfell_Hall_(1848)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:29" }, { "id": "51f172e7-05b1-4558-b876-395f52f37800", "slug": "those-whose-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall/those-whose-time", "text": "Those, whose time is fully occupied, seldom complain of solitude.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Brontë", "slug": "anne-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", "slug": "the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Bront%C3%AB#The_Tenant_of_Wildfell_Hall_(1848)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:28" }, { "id": "87925cac-2521-4989-9033-7fc9b5af218e", "slug": "i-dont-suppose", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucille-ball/love-lucy/i-dont-suppose", "text": "I don't suppose that hard work, discipline, and a perfectionist attitude toward my work did me any harm. They are a big part of my makeup today, as any of my co-workers will tell you. And when life seemed unbearable, I learned to live in my imagination, and to step inside other people's skins- indispensable abilities for an actress.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lucille Ball", "slug": "lucille-ball", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucille-ball" }, "book": { "title": "Love, Lucy", "slug": "love-lucy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucille-ball/love-lucy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 9, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "imagination", "slug": "imagination", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/imagination" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lucille_Ball#Love,_Lucy_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:25" }, { "id": "f99f59db-afe5-4659-a4fe-f8ee41da4ff6", "slug": "by-the-standards", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer/eating-animals/by-the-standards", "text": "By the standards of the international human rights community, the typical working conditions in America's slaughterhouses constitute human rights violations.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer", "slug": "jonathan-safran-foer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer" }, "book": { "title": "Eating Animals", "slug": "eating-animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer/eating-animals" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "human rights", "slug": "human-rights", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-rights" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Safran_Foer#Eating_Animals_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:10" }, { "id": "8ed90146-7412-443f-886a-fd0638e463d2", "slug": "the-responsibility-lies", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer/eating-animals/the-responsibility-lies", "text": "The responsibility lies with the mentality of the meat industry that treats both animals and \"human capital\" like machines ... human beings cannot be human (much less humane) under the conditions of a factory farm or slaughterhouse.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer", "slug": "jonathan-safran-foer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer" }, "book": { "title": "Eating Animals", "slug": "eating-animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer/eating-animals" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "animals", "slug": "animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Safran_Foer#Eating_Animals_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:10" }, { "id": "413de4a0-893d-43b6-a6d4-2248b2b0425b", "slug": "bad-day-at-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross/glasshouse/bad-day-at-the", "text": "“Bad day at the office?”\n\n“It’s always a bad day at the office, insofar as the office exists in the first place.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Stross", "slug": "charles-stross", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross" }, "book": { "title": "Glasshouse", "slug": "glasshouse", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross/glasshouse" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 302, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Stross#Glasshouse_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:06" }, { "id": "6f2188ba-3ab8-4cd9-a008-493a48113ca7", "slug": "any-job-i-do-if", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross/singularity-sky/any-job-i-do-if", "text": "Any job I do—if it doesn’t work, somebody pays. Possibly hundreds or thousands of somebodies. That’s the price of good engineering; nobody notices you did your job right.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Stross", "slug": "charles-stross", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross" }, "book": { "title": "Singularity Sky", "slug": "singularity-sky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross/singularity-sky" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 127, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Stross#Singularity_Sky_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:04" }, { "id": "4fba2ccf-fcee-4921-bc30-02d2449cebdd", "slug": "private-misfortunes-must", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas/the-count-of-monte-cristo/private-misfortunes-must", "text": "Private misfortunes must never induce us to neglect business.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alexandre Dumas", "slug": "alexandre-dumas", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas" }, "book": { "title": "The Count of Monte Cristo", "slug": "the-count-of-monte-cristo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas/the-count-of-monte-cristo" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:03" }, { "id": "6e110efe-3cfc-4735-af00-b184708ed4a8", "slug": "there-were-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/early-riser/there-were-the", "text": "There were the rules we were taught, and there were the rules we did our job by. The two were related, but as distant cousins rather than siblings.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jasper Fforde", "slug": "jasper-fforde", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde" }, "book": { "title": "Early Riser", "slug": "early-riser", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/early-riser" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 117, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jasper_Fforde#Early_Riser_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:02" }, { "id": "0ec19de1-8201-40ad-a164-8cc25b6ea0d3", "slug": "you-have-a-class", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/fight-club/you-have-a-class", "text": "You have a class of young strong men and women, and they want to give their lives to something. Advertising has these people chasing cars and clothes they don't need. Generations have been working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy what they don't really need.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Fight Club", "slug": "fight-club", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/fight-club" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "consumerism", "slug": "consumerism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consumerism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fight_Club_(novel)#Chapter_19", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:57" }, { "id": "d352f840-ef72-43a1-b4cb-cc7f55b3566e", "slug": "getting-fired-tyler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/fight-club/getting-fired-tyler", "text": "\"Getting fired,\" Tyler says, \"is the best thing that could happen to any of us. That way, we'd quit treading water and do something with our lives.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Fight Club", "slug": "fight-club", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/fight-club" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fight_Club_(novel)#Chapter_10", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:56" }, { "id": "1c3d044f-1952-421e-9ab7-1bf96bd3386e", "slug": "you-do-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/fight-club/you-do-the", "text": "You do the little job you're trained to do.\n\nPull a lever.\n\nPush a button.\n\nYou don't understand any of it, and then you just die.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Fight Club", "slug": "fight-club", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/fight-club" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fight_Club_(novel)#Chapter_1", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:56" }, { "id": "ba661d84-143f-46d8-9bef-56a17b159497", "slug": "my-meaning-simply", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/david-copperfield/my-meaning-simply", "text": "My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "David Copperfield", "slug": "david-copperfield", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/david-copperfield" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Copperfield#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:46" }, { "id": "1f2fc8f6-0797-4b4d-b6bf-756dd1245270", "slug": "the-labour-is-so-pleasant-said", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/david-copperfield/the-labour-is-so-pleasant-said", "text": "\"The labour is so pleasant,\"said Agnes,\"that it is scarcely grateful in me to call it by that name.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "David Copperfield", "slug": "david-copperfield", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/david-copperfield" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Copperfield#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:46" }, { "id": "8aafe371-bc85-4792-8146-f6e9b367efcc", "slug": "women-are-receiving", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins/nothin-but-good-times-ahead/women-are-receiving", "text": "Women are receiving so many conflicting messages from this society that no matter what choices we make, or more often, what roles necessity forces on us-work, family or the difficult combination of both-we all feel guilty about what we're doing. It's quite true that full-time homemakers resent the condescension in remarks like Hillary Clinton's \"What did you expect me to do, stay home and bake cookies?\" But this is a society in which people's worth is judged by how much money they make, and the esteem in which our society holds wives and mothers is reflected in their salaries. (\"Notes from Another Country\" 1992)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Molly Ivins", "slug": "molly-ivins", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins" }, "book": { "title": "Nothin' But Good Times Ahead", "slug": "nothin-but-good-times-ahead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins/nothin-but-good-times-ahead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "motherhood", "slug": "motherhood", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/motherhood" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Molly_Ivins#Nothin'_but_Good_Times_Ahead_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:34" }, { "id": "cae0a6a4-dacc-47ac-b826-806a5d1c4d57", "slug": "so-if-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-hari/stolen-focus/so-if-you", "text": "So if you check your texts often while trying to work, you aren’t only losing the little bursts of time you spend looking at the texts– you are also losing the time it takes to refocus afterwards, which can be much longer.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Johann Hari", "slug": "johann-hari", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-hari" }, "book": { "title": "Stolen Focus", "slug": "stolen-focus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-hari/stolen-focus" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 36, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "attention", "slug": "attention", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/attention" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Hari#Stolen_Focus_(2022)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:29" }, { "id": "6f8dc1ca-7e12-4cab-9cad-faa96637f7d5", "slug": "perhaps-the-greatest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clement-greenberg/art-and-culture/perhaps-the-greatest", "text": "Perhaps the greatest change that industrialism (along with Protestantism and rationalism) has made in daily life is to separate work from leisure in a radical and almost absolute way. Once the efficacy of work began to be more clearly and fully appreciated, work had to become more efficacious in itself — that is, more efficient. To this end, it had to be more sharply separated from everything that was not work; it had to be made more concentratedly and purely itself — in attitude, in method and, above all, in time. Moreover, under the rule of efficiency, seriously purposeful activity in general tended to become assimilated to work. The effect of all this has been to reduce leisure to an occasion more exclusively of passivity, to a breathing spell and interlude; it has become something peripheral.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Clement Greenberg", "slug": "clement-greenberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clement-greenberg" }, "book": { "title": "Art and Culture", "slug": "art-and-culture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clement-greenberg/art-and-culture" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 31, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "rest", "slug": "rest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rest" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clement_Greenberg#Art_and_Culture:_Critical_Essays,_(1961)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:14" }, { "id": "30c3d246-1235-4f8f-ad26-184ac772e528", "slug": "once-efficiency-is-universally", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clement-greenberg/art-and-culture/once-efficiency-is-universally", "text": "Once efficiency is universally accepted as a rule, it becomes an inner compulsion and weighs like a sense of sin, simply because no one can ever be efficient enough, just as no one can ever be virtuous enough. And this new sense of sin only contributes further to the enervation of leisure, for the rich as well as the poor.The difficulty of carrying on a leisure-oriented tradition of culture in a work-oriented society is enough in itself to keep the present crisis in our culture unresolved.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Clement Greenberg", "slug": "clement-greenberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clement-greenberg" }, "book": { "title": "Art and Culture", "slug": "art-and-culture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clement-greenberg/art-and-culture" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 31, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "culture", "slug": "culture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/culture" }, { "name": "rest", "slug": "rest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rest" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clement_Greenberg#Art_and_Culture:_Critical_Essays,_(1961)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:14" }, { "id": "907296a5-222d-40cb-a80e-b3af30facd33", "slug": "you-love-too", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy/he-she-and-it/you-love-too", "text": "\"You love too hard. It occupies the center and squeezes out your strength. If you work in the center and love to the side, you will love better in the long run, Shira. You will give more gracefully, without counting, and what you get, you will enjoy.\" (Malkah, six: WE KNOW TOO MUCH AND TOO LITTLE)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marge Piercy", "slug": "marge-piercy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy" }, "book": { "title": "He, She and It", "slug": "he-she-and-it", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy/he-she-and-it" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marge_Piercy#He,_She_and_It_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:10" }, { "id": "4c86d296-a562-476d-9e63-89795f56f095", "slug": "always-at-bottom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marie-louise-von-franz/creation-myths/always-at-bottom", "text": "Always at bottom there is a divine revelation, a divine act, and man has only had the bright idea of copying it. That is how the crafts all came into existence and is why they all have a mystical background. In primitive civilizations one is still aware of it, and this accounts for the fact that generally they are better craftsmen than we who have lost this awareness. If we think that every craft, whether carpenter's or smith's or weaver's, was a divine revelation, then we understand better the mystical process which certain creation myths characterize as God creating the world like a craftsman. By creating the world through such a craft he manifests a secret of his own mysterious skill.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marie-Louise von Franz", "slug": "marie-louise-von-franz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marie-louise-von-franz" }, "book": { "title": "Creation Myths", "slug": "creation-myths", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marie-louise-von-franz/creation-myths" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "mysticism", "slug": "mysticism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mysticism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marie-Louise_von_Franz#Deus_Faber", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:06" }, { "id": "b12be79e-f3bd-4b0f-8de6-74f4d0d2d8c3", "slug": "i-wish-i-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stevie-smith/selected-poems/i-wish-i-was", "text": "I wish I was more cheerful, it is more pleasant,\n\nAlso it is a duty, we should smile as well as submitting\n\nTo the purpose of One Above who is experimenting\n\nWith various mixtures of human character which goes best,\n\nAll is interesting for him it is exciting, but not for us.\n\nThere I go again. Smile, smile, and get some work to do\n\nThen you will be practically unconscious without positively having to go.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stevie Smith", "slug": "stevie-smith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stevie-smith" }, "book": { "title": "Selected Poems", "slug": "selected-poems", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stevie-smith/selected-poems" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "smiling", "slug": "smiling", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/smiling" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stevie_Smith#Selected_Poems_(1962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:54" }, { "id": "c2641094-f77a-4e42-9296-f267ad6741af", "slug": "its-like-a-lot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/child-of-god/its-like-a-lot", "text": "It's like a lot of things, said the smith. Do the least part of it wrong and ye'd just as well to do it all wrong. (p.71)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Cormac McCarthy", "slug": "cormac-mccarthy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy" }, "book": { "title": "Child of God", "slug": "child-of-god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/child-of-god" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perfection", "slug": "perfection", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perfection" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy#Child_of_God_(1973)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:29" }, { "id": "56e25264-379e-498a-8aab-508675a31c11", "slug": "the-problem-with", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly/new-rules-for-the-new-economy/the-problem-with", "text": "The problem with trying to measure productivity is that it measures only how well people can do the wrong jobs. Any job that can be measured for productivity probably should be eliminated from the list of jobs that people do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kevin Kelly", "slug": "kevin-kelly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly" }, "book": { "title": "New Rules for the New Economy", "slug": "new-rules-for-the-new-economy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly/new-rules-for-the-new-economy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kevin_Kelly_(editor)#New_Rules_for_the_New_Economy:_10_Radical_Strategies_for_a_Connected_World_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:18" }, { "id": "30da188e-6320-4319-97b6-edab6b20e18d", "slug": "any-labor-which", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norbert-wiener/the-human-use-of-human-beings/any-labor-which", "text": "Any labor which competes with slave labor must accept the economic conditions of slave labor.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Norbert Wiener", "slug": "norbert-wiener", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norbert-wiener" }, "book": { "title": "The Human Use Of Human Beings", "slug": "the-human-use-of-human-beings", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norbert-wiener/the-human-use-of-human-beings" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 162, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "slavery", "slug": "slavery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/slavery" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norbert_Wiener#The_Human_Use_of_Human_Beings_(1950)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:18" }, { "id": "48e400ab-8fc2-481c-95b2-aee6e41bcf49", "slug": "a-company-cannot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly/out-of-control/a-company-cannot", "text": "A company cannot be a learning company without also being a teaching company.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kevin Kelly", "slug": "kevin-kelly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly" }, "book": { "title": "Out Of Control", "slug": "out-of-control", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly/out-of-control" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "education", "slug": "education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/education" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kevin_Kelly_(editor)#Out_of_Control:_The_New_Biology_of_Machines,_Social_Systems_and_the_Economic_World_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:15" }, { "id": "6cb7a09e-0beb-422d-ad36-6553516166bc", "slug": "the-distribution-of-tasks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago/all-the-names/the-distribution-of-tasks", "text": "The distribution of tasks among the various employees follows a simple rule, which is that the duty of the members of each category is to do as much work as they possibly can, so that only a small part of that work need be passed to the category above. This means that the clerks are obliged to work without cease from morning to night, whereas the senior clerks do so only now and then, the deputies very rarely, and the Registrar almost never.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "José Saramago", "slug": "jose-saramago", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago" }, "book": { "title": "All The Names", "slug": "all-the-names", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago/all-the-names" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 2, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Saramago#All_the_Names_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:13" }, { "id": "692b4b31-859c-46af-9d8d-4ce87e04871a", "slug": "you-can-win", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/banksy/wall-and-piece/you-can-win", "text": "\"You can win the rat race but you're still a rat.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Banksy", "slug": "banksy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/banksy" }, "book": { "title": "Wall and Piece", "slug": "wall-and-piece", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/banksy/wall-and-piece" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "ambition", "slug": "ambition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ambition" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Banksy#Wall_and_Piece_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:11" }, { "id": "a6446237-b8de-45a4-a20f-b0ba7bbca857", "slug": "the-worker-must", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois/the-souls-of-black-folk/the-worker-must", "text": "The worker must work for the glory of his handiwork, not simply for pay; the thinker must think for truth, not for fame.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "W.E.B. Dubois", "slug": "web-dubois", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois" }, "book": { "title": "The Souls of Black Folk", "slug": "the-souls-of-black-folk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois/the-souls-of-black-folk" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "fame", "slug": "fame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois#The_Souls_of_Black_Folk_(1903)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:02" }, { "id": "78c4e27a-ad87-4619-8be2-6571b688e9d5", "slug": "security-trumped-productivity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/settling-accounts-return-engagement/security-trumped-productivity", "text": "Security trumped productivity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harry Turtledove", "slug": "harry-turtledove", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove" }, "book": { "title": "Settling Accounts: Return Engagement", "slug": "settling-accounts-return-engagement", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/settling-accounts-return-engagement" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 465, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "safety", "slug": "safety", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/safety" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Turtledove#Settling_Accounts:_Return_Engagement_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:53" }, { "id": "e677a708-5ebd-44b3-b759-0b959283e361", "slug": "research-seemed-a-more", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/agent-of-byzantium/research-seemed-a-more", "text": "Research seemed a more profitable way to spend his time than mourning.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harry Turtledove", "slug": "harry-turtledove", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove" }, "book": { "title": "Agent of Byzantium", "slug": "agent-of-byzantium", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/agent-of-byzantium" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 90, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "grief", "slug": "grief", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/grief" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Turtledove#Agent_of_Byzantium_(1987)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:46" }, { "id": "6f4c7701-1935-4b7f-87df-f7d4c5956cce", "slug": "there-is-however", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides/history-of-the-peloponnesian-war/there-is-however", "text": "There is, however, no advantage in reflections on the past further than may be of service to the present. For the future we must provide by maintaining what the present gives us and redoubling our efforts; it is hereditary to us to win virtue as the fruit of labour, and you must not change the habit, even though you should have a slight advantage in wealth and resources; for it is not right that what was won in want should be lost in plenty.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thucydides", "slug": "thucydides", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides" }, "book": { "title": "History of the Peloponnesian War", "slug": "history-of-the-peloponnesian-war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides/history-of-the-peloponnesian-war" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thucydides#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:36" }, { "id": "3ae28947-bd57-4041-833a-daa8e16ec512", "slug": "thus-they-toil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides/history-of-the-peloponnesian-war/thus-they-toil", "text": "Thus they toil on in trouble and danger all the days of their life, with little opportunity for enjoying, being ever engaged in getting: their only idea of a holiday is to do what the occasion demands, and to them laborious occupation is less of a misfortune than the peace of a quiet life. To describe their character in a word, one might truly say that they were born into the world to take no rest themselves and to give none to others.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thucydides", "slug": "thucydides", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides" }, "book": { "title": "History of the Peloponnesian War", "slug": "history-of-the-peloponnesian-war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides/history-of-the-peloponnesian-war" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "peace of mind", "slug": "peace-of-mind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/peace-of-mind" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thucydides#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:35" }, { "id": "2534869d-6d6c-41a3-b470-3c7d871f50a7", "slug": "the-professional-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-hofstadter/anti-intellectualism-in-american-life/the-professional-man", "text": "The professional man lives off ideas, not for them. … He has acquired a stock of mental skills that are for sale. The skills are highly developed, but we do not think of him as being an intellectual if certain qualities are missing from his work—disinterested intelligence, generalizing power, free speculation, fresh observation, creative novelty, radical criticism. At home he may happen to be an intellectual, but at his job he is a hired mental technician who uses his mind for the pursuit of externally determined ends. It is this element—the fact that ends are set from some interest or vantage point outside the intellectual process itself—which characterizes both the zealot, who lives obsessively for a single idea, and the mental technician, whose mind is used not for free speculation but for a salable end. The goal here is external and not self-determined, whereas the intellectual life has a certain spontaneous character and inner determination. It has also a peculiar poise of its own, which I believe is established by a balance between two basic qualities in the intellectual’s attitude toward ideas—qualities that may be designated as playfulness and piety.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Hofstadter", "slug": "richard-hofstadter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-hofstadter" }, "book": { "title": "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life", "slug": "anti-intellectualism-in-american-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-hofstadter/anti-intellectualism-in-american-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 27, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "intelligence", "slug": "intelligence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intelligence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Hofstadter#Anti-Intellectualism_in_American_Life_(1963)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:34" }, { "id": "07f71190-7613-4b6d-8884-762b40155df0", "slug": "it-continues-to-astound", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/youth/it-continues-to-astound", "text": "It continues to astound him that people can be as clever as people are in the computer industry, yet have no outside interests beyond cars and house prices. — Chapter 18, page 149.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "J. M. Coetzee", "slug": "j-m-coetzee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee" }, "book": { "title": "Youth", "slug": "youth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/youth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "consumerism", "slug": "consumerism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consumerism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee#Youth:_Scenes_from_Provincial_Life_II_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:32" }, { "id": "fe8ef250-12cf-45f3-869c-108a3c66a8dd", "slug": "so-far-as-i-could", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-baker/growing-up/so-far-as-i-could", "text": "​So far as I could make out, what writers did couldn't even be classified as work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Russell Baker", "slug": "russell-baker", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-baker" }, "book": { "title": "Growing Up", "slug": "growing-up", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-baker/growing-up" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 26, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Russell_Baker#Growing_Up_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:15" }, { "id": "c0edd9e3-d62b-49e1-bb30-976a7d2aeb8f", "slug": "the-state-of-conformity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil/simone-weil-an-anthology/the-state-of-conformity", "text": "The state of conformity is an imitation of grace. By a strange mystery — which is connected with the power of the social element — a profession can confer on quite ordinary men in their exercise of it, virtues which, if they were extended to all circumstances of life, would make of them heroes or saints.\n\nBut the power of the social element makes these virtues natural. Accordingly they need a compensation.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Simone Weil", "slug": "simone-weil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil" }, "book": { "title": "Simone Weil: An Anthology", "slug": "simone-weil-an-anthology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil/simone-weil-an-anthology" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 124, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "conformity", "slug": "conformity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_Weil#The_Great_Beast_(1947)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:13" }, { "id": "aefe214a-a299-4bf4-bb3d-c7fd68eab98d", "slug": "i-dont-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad/heart-of-darkness/i-dont-like", "text": "I don't like work — no man does — but I like what is in work — the chance to find yourself. Your own reality — for yourself, not for others — what no other man can ever know.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Conrad", "slug": "joseph-conrad", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad" }, "book": { "title": "Heart of Darkness", "slug": "heart-of-darkness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad/heart-of-darkness" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "self-knowledge", "slug": "self-knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-knowledge" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness#Part_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:13" }, { "id": "3c772e39-ed44-40db-ba9c-54ae1043f2de", "slug": "a-modern-factory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil/simone-weil-an-anthology/a-modern-factory", "text": "A modern factory reaches perhaps almost the limit of horror. Everybody in it is constantly harassed and kept on edge by the interference of extraneous wills while the soul is left in cold and desolate misery. What man needs is silence and warmth; what he is given is an icy pandemonium.\n\nPhysical labour may be painful, but it is not degrading as such. It is not art; it is not science; it is something else, possessing an exactly equal value with art and science, for it provides an equal opportunity to reach the impersonal stage of attention.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Simone Weil", "slug": "simone-weil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil" }, "book": { "title": "Simone Weil: An Anthology", "slug": "simone-weil-an-anthology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil/simone-weil-an-anthology" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 59, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "silence", "slug": "silence-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/silence-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_Weil#Human_Personality_(1943)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:13" }, { "id": "88335e67-e42f-4c22-9bb0-74ef05a855b8", "slug": "to-organize-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/a-guide-for-the-perplexed/to-organize-work", "text": "To organize work in such a manner that it becomes meaningless, boring, stultifying, or nerve-racking for the worker would be little short of criminal; it would indicate a greater concern with goods than with people, an evil lack of compassion and a soul-destroying degree of attachment to the most primitive side of this worldly existence.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "E. F. Schumacher", "slug": "e-f-schumacher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher" }, "book": { "title": "A Guide For the Perplexed", "slug": "a-guide-for-the-perplexed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/a-guide-for-the-perplexed" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher#A_Guide_for_the_Perplexed", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:52" }, { "id": "d4b80abf-8b9e-4fc1-9bc0-7742151ed533", "slug": "from-the-point", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/a-guide-for-the-perplexed/from-the-point", "text": "From the point of view of the employer, it is in any case simply an item of cost, to be reduced to a minimum if it cannot be eliminated altogether, say, by automation. From the point of view of the workman, it is a 'disutility'; to work is to make a sacrifice of one's leisure and comfort, and wages are a kind of compensation for the sacrifice.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "E. F. Schumacher", "slug": "e-f-schumacher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher" }, "book": { "title": "A Guide For the Perplexed", "slug": "a-guide-for-the-perplexed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/a-guide-for-the-perplexed" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher#A_Guide_for_the_Perplexed", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:51" }, { "id": "a576bfee-0fdc-4e8d-b2e8-4fd1f39033c9", "slug": "the-buddhist-view", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/a-guide-for-the-perplexed/the-buddhist-view", "text": "The Buddhist view, “takes the function of work to be at least threefold”: “to give a man a chance to utilize and develop his faculties; to enable him to overcome his egocentredness by joining with other people in a common task; and to bring forth the goods and services needed for a becoming existence.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "E. F. Schumacher", "slug": "e-f-schumacher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher" }, "book": { "title": "A Guide For the Perplexed", "slug": "a-guide-for-the-perplexed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/a-guide-for-the-perplexed" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher#A_Guide_for_the_Perplexed", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:51" }, { "id": "4ba0344b-7568-466c-b8af-3feea1c8c343", "slug": "that-soul-destroying-meaningless", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/small-is-beautiful/that-soul-destroying-meaningless", "text": "That soul-destroying, meaningless, mechanical, monotonous, moronic work is an insult to human nature which must necessarily and inevitably produce either escapism or aggression, and that no amount of “bread and circuses” can compensate for the damage done—these are facts which are neither denied nor acknowledged but are met with an unbreakable conspiracy of silence—because to deny them would be too obviously absurd and to acknowledge them would condemn the central preoccupation of modern society.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "E. F. Schumacher", "slug": "e-f-schumacher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher" }, "book": { "title": "Small Is Beautiful", "slug": "small-is-beautiful", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/small-is-beautiful" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 35, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher#Small_is_Beautiful:_A_Study_of_Economics_As_If_People_Mattered_(1973)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:51" }, { "id": "107399d2-8b6e-4c21-b60a-80964070c87e", "slug": "from-a-buddhist", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/a-guide-for-the-perplexed/from-a-buddhist", "text": "From a Buddhist point of view, this is standing the truth on its head by considering goods as more important than people and consumption as more important than creative activity. It means shifting the emphasis from the worker to the product of work, that is, from the human to the sub-human, surrender to the forces of evil.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "E. F. Schumacher", "slug": "e-f-schumacher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher" }, "book": { "title": "A Guide For the Perplexed", "slug": "a-guide-for-the-perplexed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-f-schumacher/a-guide-for-the-perplexed" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "consumerism", "slug": "consumerism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consumerism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher#A_Guide_for_the_Perplexed", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:51" }, { "id": "f84e8d1d-b81e-4d90-b0a5-c27b485de9ea", "slug": "being-able-to", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/noam-chomsky/the-chomsky-reader/being-able-to", "text": "Being able to do as one pleases is the natural goal of the libertarian, but having nothing to do is not. While it may be correct to say that the human species is badly prepared for having nothing to do, it is quite a different matter to say that it is badly prepared for the freedom to do as one pleases. People who are able to do as they please may work very hard, given the opportunity to do interesting work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Noam Chomsky", "slug": "noam-chomsky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/noam-chomsky" }, "book": { "title": "The Chomsky Reader", "slug": "the-chomsky-reader", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/noam-chomsky/the-chomsky-reader" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 179, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Chomsky_Reader#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:47" }, { "id": "e32b3639-d118-47e7-8ae7-6e8bf3f752e0", "slug": "doing-some-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin/kiln-people/doing-some-thing", "text": "Doing some thing you’re good at—what else can make you feel more genuinely human?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Brin", "slug": "david-brin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin" }, "book": { "title": "Kil’n People", "slug": "kiln-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin/kiln-people" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 186, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "passion", "slug": "passion-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/passion-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Brin#Kiln_People_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:46" }, { "id": "97940d2f-be42-4213-9605-563df122cdaa", "slug": "be-thou-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-kempis/the-imitation-of-christ/be-thou-never", "text": "Be thou never without something to do; be reading, or writing, or praying, or meditating, or doing something that is useful to the community.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Kempis", "slug": "thomas-kempis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-kempis" }, "book": { "title": "The Imitation of Christ", "slug": "the-imitation-of-christ", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-kempis/the-imitation-of-christ" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "laziness", "slug": "laziness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/laziness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_%C3%A0_Kempis#The_Imitation_of_Christ_(c._1418)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:26" }, { "id": "75af1394-c783-4315-ad5e-18abb7447fa7", "slug": "the-supposition-is-prevalent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis/the-supposition-is-prevalent", "text": "The supposition is prevalent the world over that there would be no problems in production or service if only our production workers would do their jobs in the way that they were taught. Pleasant dreams. The workers are handicapped by the system, and the system belongs to the management.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "W. Edwards Deming", "slug": "w-edwards-deming", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming" }, "book": { "title": "Out of the Crisis", "slug": "out-of-the-crisis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 134, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "business", "slug": "business", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Out_Of_The_Crisis_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:25" }, { "id": "59deff4a-562f-478f-a64f-22e2b31581de", "slug": "my-friendships-were", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/shadow-puppets/my-friendships-were", "text": "My friendships were not... transcendent. They were all tied to my work, and when my work went away, so did all my friends. They were not unkind, they still inquired after me, they made overtures, but there was nothing to say, our minds and our hearts did not really touch at any point. I discovered that I did not know anybody, and nobody knew me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Shadow Puppets", "slug": "shadow-puppets", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/shadow-puppets" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "friendship", "slug": "friendship", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/friendship" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shadow_Puppets#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:10" }, { "id": "34bfa48a-1cfe-43d2-97f1-ce36defd4a7e", "slug": "business-has-to-be-fun", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch/jack/business-has-to-be-fun", "text": "Business has to be fun. For too many people, it's \"just a job.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Welch", "slug": "jack-welch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch" }, "book": { "title": "Jack", "slug": "jack", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch/jack" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "business", "slug": "business", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Welch#Jack:_Straight_from_the_Gut_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:07" }, { "id": "3cea82f8-b5a3-4bcc-97da-9ed85fcab933", "slug": "work-hard-and", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-hand-of-ethelberta/work-hard-and", "text": "Work hard and be poor, do nothing and get more.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Hardy", "slug": "thomas-hardy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy" }, "book": { "title": "The Hand of Ethelberta", "slug": "the-hand-of-ethelberta", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-hand-of-ethelberta" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy#The_Hand_of_Ethelberta_(1876)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:00" }, { "id": "f2c9cf7f-8ad7-4afd-beaf-e47a21d2a241", "slug": "it-was-always", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-baxter/proxima/it-was-always", "text": "It was always the same with engineers, Stef had observed; nothing made them happier than to be given a well-defined and achievable task, and to be left alone to get on with it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen Baxter", "slug": "stephen-baxter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-baxter" }, "book": { "title": "Proxima", "slug": "proxima", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-baxter/proxima" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 204, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Baxter#Proxima_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:25" }, { "id": "3c8f3b78-b885-4fbc-a022-9e586af11ba8", "slug": "the-signal-failure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/camille-paglia/sex-art-and-american-culture/the-signal-failure", "text": "The signal failure of the academic Marxists is in their obliviousness to the transformation of modern labor. In the age of mass media, power has shifted its meaning and loci. Capitalism, whatever its problems, remains the most efficient economic mechanism yet to bring the highest quality of life to the greatest number. Because I have studied the past, I know that, in America and under capitalism, I am the freest woman in history. Union blue-collar jobs now routinely pay higher salaries than are earned by most teachers. Physical labor, as a concrete skill occupation, is free of the soul-destroying office politics suffers by the Marxists' demonized managerial class, who take their jobs home with them and are in a continual funk of anxiety and neurosis. … Unharried weekend leisure time is the center of working-class American life in ways the academic Marxists, resentfully marking papers and endlessly pressed for time, simply don't see.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Camille Paglia", "slug": "camille-paglia", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/camille-paglia" }, "book": { "title": "Sex, Art, and American Culture", "slug": "sex-art-and-american-culture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/camille-paglia/sex-art-and-american-culture" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 247, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "capitalism", "slug": "capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/capitalism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Camille_Paglia#Junk_Bonds_and_Corporate_Raiders_:_Academe_in_the_Hour_of_the_Wolf", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:19" }, { "id": "d2b8973e-bb88-4a82-b8f2-45f3c0d86f4e", "slug": "in-view-of-my-previous", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-scarlet-letter/in-view-of-my-previous", "text": "In view of my previous weariness of office, and vague thoughts of resignation, my fortune somewhat resembled that of a person who should entertain an idea of committing suicide, and, altogether beyond his hopes, meet with the good hap to be murdered.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nathaniel Hawthorne", "slug": "nathaniel-hawthorne", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne" }, "book": { "title": "The Scarlet Letter", "slug": "the-scarlet-letter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-scarlet-letter" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne#The_Scarlet_Letter_(1850)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:07" }, { "id": "e729b168-3ec7-4d88-bc01-dede4b2f8aec", "slug": "from-the-development", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-greenspan/the-age-of-turbulence/from-the-development", "text": "From the development of the textile loom two centuries ago to today's Internet, output per hour has increased fifty fold.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alan Greenspan", "slug": "alan-greenspan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-greenspan" }, "book": { "title": "The Age of Turbulence", "slug": "the-age-of-turbulence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-greenspan/the-age-of-turbulence" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 471, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "technology", "slug": "technology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Greenspan#The_Age_of_Turbulence_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:46" }, { "id": "eaaef2bf-6955-41a8-beda-20064e3eef13", "slug": "by-and-large", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-morrow-lindbergh/gift-from-the-sea/by-and-large", "text": "By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Morrow Lindbergh", "slug": "anne-morrow-lindbergh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-morrow-lindbergh" }, "book": { "title": "Gift from the Sea", "slug": "gift-from-the-sea", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-morrow-lindbergh/gift-from-the-sea" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "motherhood", "slug": "motherhood", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/motherhood" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Morrow_Lindbergh#Gift_from_the_Sea_(1955)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:28" }, { "id": "b969b296-72ee-4de2-95a7-7fe4ffba0724", "slug": "play-makes-a-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/neveryona/play-makes-a-human", "text": "Play makes a human being! Work just means you don’t have to feel guilty about playing, which I don’t feel much anyway. Mainly work means I don’t have to suffer the taunts of my friends who wonder why I’m playing as hard as I do!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel R. Delany", "slug": "samuel-r-delany", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany" }, "book": { "title": "Neveryona", "slug": "neveryona", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/neveryona" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 238, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "play", "slug": "play", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/play" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany#Nevery%C3%B3na_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:20" }, { "id": "95e8f22f-a65b-46c9-87f6-8ddec7de56ac", "slug": "slaves-are-men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/neveryona/slaves-are-men", "text": "Slaves are men and women who labor for no pay. Over there are men who do no labor for no pay. The similarity is enough so that they might make the mistake themselves.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel R. Delany", "slug": "samuel-r-delany", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany" }, "book": { "title": "Neveryona", "slug": "neveryona", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/neveryona" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 147, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "irony", "slug": "irony", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony" }, { "name": "slavery", "slug": "slavery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/slavery" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany#Nevery%C3%B3na_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:20" }, { "id": "d38e6eb9-8584-4a24-9f80-543ca8547c32", "slug": "i-will-say", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fred-hoyle/the-black-cloud/i-will-say", "text": "I will say this for you, Chris. I never knew anyone who was better at finding work for other people.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Fred Hoyle", "slug": "fred-hoyle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fred-hoyle" }, "book": { "title": "The Black Cloud", "slug": "the-black-cloud", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fred-hoyle/the-black-cloud" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 146, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fred_Hoyle#The_Black_Cloud_(1957)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:08" }, { "id": "871785f2-d095-4183-9ebf-0f66c114bc63", "slug": "m-any-females-would", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/valerie-solanas/scum-manifesto/m-any-females-would", "text": "[M]any females would, even assuming complete economic equality between the sexes, prefer residing with males or peddling their asses on the street, thereby having most of their time for themselves, to spending many hours of their days doing boring, stultifying, non-creative work for somebody else, functioning as less than animals, as machines, or, at best - if able to get a \"good\" job - co-managing the shitpile. What will liberate women, therefore, from male control is the total elimination of the money-work system, not the attainment of economic equality with men within it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Valerie Solanas", "slug": "valerie-solanas", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/valerie-solanas" }, "book": { "title": "SCUM Manifesto", "slug": "scum-manifesto", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/valerie-solanas/scum-manifesto" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 3, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "feminism", "slug": "feminism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/feminism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Valerie_Solanas#SCUM_MANIFESTO_(1967)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:05" }, { "id": "bd68e0f4-ed41-4e7c-b126-bfd43bebac69", "slug": "i-would-recommend", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/framley-parsonage/i-would-recommend", "text": "I would recommend all men in choosing a profession to avoid any that may require an apology at every turn; either an apology or else a somewhat violent assertion of right.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anthony Trollope", "slug": "anthony-trollope", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope" }, "book": { "title": "Framley Parsonage", "slug": "framley-parsonage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/framley-parsonage" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "advice", "slug": "advice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/advice" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Trollope#Framley_Parsonage_(1861)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:00" }, { "id": "b27b6fc5-ca43-490e-b916-a8111ceaf875", "slug": "if-the-individual", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man/if-the-individual", "text": "If the individual were no longer compelled to prove himself on the market, as a free economic subject, the disappearance of this kind of freedom would be one of the greatest achievements of civilization. The technological processes of mechanization and standardization might release individual energy into a yet uncharted realm of freedom beyond necessity. The very structure of human existence would be altered; the individual would be liberated from the work world's imposing upon him alien needs and alien possibilities. The individual would be free to exert autonomy over a life that would be his own.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herbert Marcuse", "slug": "herbert-marcuse", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse" }, "book": { "title": "One-Dimensional Man", "slug": "one-dimensional-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 2, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "technology", "slug": "technology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herbert_Marcuse#One-Dimensional_Man_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:38" }, { "id": "ee7ac542-f3ba-4198-8534-de5301ace9de", "slug": "work-democracy-does", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/work-democracy-does", "text": "Work democracy does not wish to prevent or prohibit anything. Its only intention is the fulfilment of the biological life functions, of love, work and knowledge.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilhelm Reich", "slug": "wilhelm-reich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich" }, "book": { "title": "The Mass Psychology of Fascism", "slug": "the-mass-psychology-of-fascism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich#Ch._10_:_Work_Democracy", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:34" }, { "id": "dcdab1e0-3839-467a-b28a-c6e591f0585e", "slug": "only-a-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/only-a-work", "text": "Only a work democracy can create the foundation of genuine freedom. Long experience in sociological disputes leads me to expect that a great many people will take offense at the disclosure of this miscalculation. It makes the highest demands on people's will to veracity; it puts a heavy burden on everyday living; it places all social responsibility on those who work, be it in the factory, in the office, on the farm, in the laboratory, or wherever.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilhelm Reich", "slug": "wilhelm-reich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich" }, "book": { "title": "The Mass Psychology of Fascism", "slug": "the-mass-psychology-of-fascism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "responsibility", "slug": "responsibility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich#Ch._10_:_Work_Democracy", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:34" }, { "id": "c0bc1636-fa2a-4260-b7ac-f1efdc091098", "slug": "natural-work-democracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/natural-work-democracy", "text": "Natural work democracy is politically neither \"left\" nor \"right.\" It embraces anyone who does vital work; for this reason, its orientation is only and alone forward. It has no inherent intention of being against ideologies, including political ideologies. On the other hand, if it is to function, it will be forced to take a firm stand, on a factual basis, against any ideology or political party which puts irrational obstacles in its path. Yet, basically, work democracy is not \"against,\" as is the rule with politics, but \"for\"; for the formulation and solution of concrete tasks.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilhelm Reich", "slug": "wilhelm-reich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich" }, "book": { "title": "The Mass Psychology of Fascism", "slug": "the-mass-psychology-of-fascism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "democracy", "slug": "democracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich#Ch._10_:_Work_Democracy", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:34" }, { "id": "bb4a8a5a-8eca-4dd6-8c31-5126aa4c88fc", "slug": "it-is-an-essential", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/it-is-an-essential", "text": "It is an essential part of our social tragedy that people, like farmers, the industrial workers, the medical profession, etc., influence the social process not only by their work, but also — and even predominantly — by political ideologies. For political activity hampers objective, rational activity; it splits professional organizations into warring ideological groups; it disorganizes the industrial workers: it restricts the work of the physician and harms the patients, etc. In brief, political activity prevents precisely what it pretends to achieve: peace, work, security, international cooperation, objective expression of opinion, freedom of belief, etc.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilhelm Reich", "slug": "wilhelm-reich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich" }, "book": { "title": "The Mass Psychology of Fascism", "slug": "the-mass-psychology-of-fascism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich#Ch._10_:_Work_Democracy", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:34" }, { "id": "212b3954-9469-4431-8e44-e806856bac77", "slug": "work-democracy-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/work-democracy-is-the", "text": "Work democracy is the natural process of love, work and knowledge which has always governed economy and the social and cultural life of man and always will, as long as there is a human society. Work democracy is the sum total of all naturally developed and developing life functions which organically govern rational human relationships.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilhelm Reich", "slug": "wilhelm-reich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich" }, "book": { "title": "The Mass Psychology of Fascism", "slug": "the-mass-psychology-of-fascism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich#Ch._10_:_Work_Democracy", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:34" }, { "id": "10e734a9-6635-4841-a1fe-ad2644817d89", "slug": "work-democracy-cannot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/work-democracy-cannot", "text": "Work democracy cannot be imposed on people as a political system. It depends on the consciousness on the part of the working people in all professions of their responsibility for the social process. This consciousness may be present or it may grow in an organic manner, like a tree or an animal organism. The growth of this consciousness of social responsibility is the most important prerequisite for the prevention of the cancer-like growth of political systems in the social organism. If they are allowed to grow, they will sooner or later bring about social chaos. Furthermore, such consciousness of responsibility alone will, in the course of time, bring the institutions of human society into harmony with the natural functions of work democracy. Political systems come and go without stopping or fundamentally changing the social process. But the pulse of human society would stop and not return should the natural life functions of love, work and knowledge cease for only one day.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilhelm Reich", "slug": "wilhelm-reich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich" }, "book": { "title": "The Mass Psychology of Fascism", "slug": "the-mass-psychology-of-fascism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "responsibility", "slug": "responsibility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility" }, { "name": "democracy", "slug": "democracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich#Ch._10_:_Work_Democracy", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:34" }, { "id": "0242f7ce-ed10-4508-b97e-addb4e0c2caf", "slug": "it-is-obvious", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/it-is-obvious", "text": "It is obvious that the fascist mass pestilence, with its background of thousands of years, cannot be mastered with social measures corresponding to the past three hundred years.\n\nThe discovery of the natural biological work democracy in international human intercourse is the answer to fascism. This will be no less true even if not one of the living sex-economists, orgone biophysicists or work democrats should live to see its general functioning and its victory over the irrationalism in social life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilhelm Reich", "slug": "wilhelm-reich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich" }, "book": { "title": "The Mass Psychology of Fascism", "slug": "the-mass-psychology-of-fascism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "democracy", "slug": "democracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich#The_Mass_Psychology_of_Fascism_(1933)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:34" }, { "id": "c80ae6a3-b234-42ce-a32e-57ed345e282c", "slug": "let-us-picture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maria-montessori/montessori-method/let-us-picture", "text": "Let us picture to ourselves a clever and proficient workman, capable, not only of producing much and perfect work, but of giving advice in his workshop, because of his ability to control and direct the general activity of the environment in which he works. The man who is thus master of his environment will be able to smile before the anger of others, showing that great mastery of himself which comes from consciousness of his ability to do things. We should not, however, be in the least surprised to know that in his home this capable workman scolded his wife if the soup was not to his taste, or not ready at the appointed time. In his home, he is no longer the capable workman; the skilled workman here is the wife, who serves him and prepares his food for him. He is a serene and pleasant man where he is powerful through being efficient, but is domineering where he is served. Perhaps if he should learn how to prepare his soup he might become a perfect man! The man who, through his own efforts, is able to perform all the actions necessary for his comfort and development in life, conquers himself, and in doing so multiplies his abilities and perfects himself as an individual.\n\nWe must make of the future generation, powerful men, and by that we mean men who are independent and free.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maria Montessori", "slug": "maria-montessori", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maria-montessori" }, "book": { "title": "Montessori Method", "slug": "montessori-method", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maria-montessori/montessori-method" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 100, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "independence", "slug": "independence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/independence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maria_Montessori#The_Montessori_Method_(1912)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:30" }, { "id": "c134aac1-4485-408f-a3da-6a9959e6a462", "slug": "heres-my-theory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod/heres-my-theory", "text": "Here’s my theory about meetings and life: the three things you can’t fake are erections, competence and creativity. That’s why meetings become toxic — they put uncreative people in a situation in which they have to be something they can never be. And the more effort they put into concealing their inabilities, the more toxic the meeting becomes.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Coupland", "slug": "douglas-coupland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland" }, "book": { "title": "JPod", "slug": "jpod", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Coupland#JPod_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:27" }, { "id": "a206d87c-c755-46fc-bd2c-b55b781fc516", "slug": "life-is-dull", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod/life-is-dull", "text": "Life is dull, but it could be worse and it could be better. We accept that a corporation determines our life’s routines. It’s the trade-off so that we don’t have to be chronically unemployed creative types, and we know it. When we were younger, we’d at least make a show of not being fooled and leave copies of Adbusters on our desktops. After a few years it just doesn’t matter. You trawl for jokes or amusingly diversionary .wav files. You download music. A new project comes along, then endures a slow-motion smothering at the hands of meetings. All ideas feel stillborn. The air smells like five hundred sheets of paper.\n\nAnd then it’s another day.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Coupland", "slug": "douglas-coupland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland" }, "book": { "title": "JPod", "slug": "jpod", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "boredom", "slug": "boredom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/boredom" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Coupland#JPod_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:27" }, { "id": "8e64770e-a15e-4240-b24d-d6d1c777240a", "slug": "chances-are-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod/chances-are-you", "text": "Chances are you feel superior to almost everyone you work with — however, they probably feel the same way about you.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Coupland", "slug": "douglas-coupland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland" }, "book": { "title": "JPod", "slug": "jpod", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Coupland#JPod_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:27" }, { "id": "5ea48707-a5a2-49bc-9d0e-4eda656ff69f", "slug": "dont-you-get", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod/dont-you-get", "text": "Don’t you get an empty feeling in your soul when you have a blank to-do list?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Coupland", "slug": "douglas-coupland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland" }, "book": { "title": "JPod", "slug": "jpod", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Coupland#JPod_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:26" }, { "id": "22efa595-ddaf-47c2-9b02-474d8840b0fc", "slug": "frankly-i-dont", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jerry-seinfeld/seinlanguage/frankly-i-dont", "text": "Frankly, I don't think people think of their office as a workplace anyway. I think they think of it as a stationery store with Danish. You want to get your pastry, your envelopes, your supplies, your toilet paper, six cups of coffee, and you go home.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jerry Seinfeld", "slug": "jerry-seinfeld", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jerry-seinfeld" }, "book": { "title": "Seinlanguage", "slug": "seinlanguage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jerry-seinfeld/seinlanguage" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jerry_Seinfeld#SeinLanguage_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:26" }, { "id": "03bd2101-ff9c-4104-9558-745c3af5ba0f", "slug": "nobody-has-ever", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod/nobody-has-ever", "text": "Nobody has ever been happy in a job they obtained by first handing in a resumé.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Coupland", "slug": "douglas-coupland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland" }, "book": { "title": "JPod", "slug": "jpod", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/jpod" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Coupland#JPod_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:26" }, { "id": "c99b42af-c49b-4503-b04d-c2ba37f4b6b0", "slug": "nobody-dast-blame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman/nobody-dast-blame", "text": "Nobody dast blame this man. Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine. He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back — that's an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you're finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Miller", "slug": "arthur-miller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller" }, "book": { "title": "Death of a Salesman", "slug": "death-of-a-salesman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "dreams and aspirations", "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller#Death_of_a_Salesman_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:23" }, { "id": "c121e0b7-3c9b-48cb-aa81-2386eaa3866e", "slug": "you-cant-eat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman/you-cant-eat", "text": "You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away — a man is not a piece of fruit.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Miller", "slug": "arthur-miller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller" }, "book": { "title": "Death of a Salesman", "slug": "death-of-a-salesman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller#Death_of_a_Salesman_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:23" }, { "id": "658227de-78ce-4534-82cc-c65f306f1ee6", "slug": "a-small-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman/a-small-man", "text": "A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Miller", "slug": "arthur-miller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller" }, "book": { "title": "Death of a Salesman", "slug": "death-of-a-salesman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller#Death_of_a_Salesman_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:23" }, { "id": "5c8a1069-a214-48e2-9037-77254647d08d", "slug": "work-a-lifetime", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman/work-a-lifetime", "text": "Work a lifetime to pay off a house — You finally own it and there's nobody to live in it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Miller", "slug": "arthur-miller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller" }, "book": { "title": "Death of a Salesman", "slug": "death-of-a-salesman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "irony", "slug": "irony", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller#Death_of_a_Salesman_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:23" }, { "id": "51315a95-a09c-4789-aa62-df16d18de13b", "slug": "the-only-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman/the-only-thing", "text": "The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you're a salesman, and you don't know that.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Miller", "slug": "arthur-miller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller" }, "book": { "title": "Death of a Salesman", "slug": "death-of-a-salesman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/death-of-a-salesman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller#Death_of_a_Salesman_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:23" }, { "id": "e3ac52d1-0e94-488b-b8b0-1a9f37fa2511", "slug": "look-gail-roark", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/look-gail-roark", "text": "\"Look, Gail.\" Roark got up, reached out, tore a thick branch off a tree, held it in both hands, one fist closed at each end; then, his wrists and knuckles tensed against the resistance, he bent the branch slowly into an arc. \"Now I can make what I want of it: a bow, a spear, a cane, a railing. That's the meaning of life.\"\n\n\"Your strength?\"\n\n\"Your work.\" He tossed the branch aside. \"The material the earth offers you and what you make of it . . . \"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Fountainhead", "slug": "the-fountainhead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 596, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead#Part_IV_(_Howard_Roark_)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:09" }, { "id": "58f001ec-774b-4f82-ab94-ae8a02ee807c", "slug": "the-only-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/the-only-thing", "text": "\"The only thing that matters, my goal, my reward, my beginning, my end is the work itself. My work done my way.\"'''", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Fountainhead", "slug": "the-fountainhead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 628, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead#Part_IV_(_Howard_Roark_)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:09" }, { "id": "10ecddcf-b4e3-4ecf-abcc-ea4a0d4d5ba0", "slug": "to-get-things", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/to-get-things", "text": "\"To get things done, you must love the doing, not the secondary consequences. The work, not the people. Your own action, not any possible object of your charity.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Fountainhead", "slug": "the-fountainhead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 627, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead#Part_IV_(_Howard_Roark_)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:09" }, { "id": "ce8a8719-bf85-4a64-85a3-783cb46c2b85", "slug": "but-you-see", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/but-you-see", "text": "\"But you see, I have, let's say, sixty years to live. Most of that time will be spent working. I've chosen the work I want to do. If I find no joy in it, then I'm only condemning myself to sixty years of torture. And I can find the joy only if I do my work in the best way possible to me. But the best is a matter of standards—and I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Fountainhead", "slug": "the-fountainhead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 24, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "joy", "slug": "joy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead#Part_I_(_Peter_Keating_)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:08" }, { "id": "9c0d712a-767a-45fb-ae44-1367747af3e2", "slug": "it-was-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/it-was-not", "text": "It was not necessary to design buildings any longer, only to photograph them; the architect with the best library was the best architect. […]\n\nHenry Cameron had nothing to offer against this; nothing but a faith he held merely because it was his own. He had nobody to quote and nothing of importance to say. He said only that the form of a building must follow its function; that the structure of a building is the key to its beauty; that new methods of construction demand new forms; that he wished to build as he wished and for that reason only. […]\n\nMen hate passion, any great passion. Henry Cameron made a mistake: he loved his work. That was why he fought. That was why he lost.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Fountainhead", "slug": "the-fountainhead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 41, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "passion", "slug": "passion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/passion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead#Part_I_(_Peter_Keating_)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:08" }, { "id": "4cb35109-be88-4251-8494-f193995ab937", "slug": "i-dont-intend", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/i-dont-intend", "text": "\"I don't intend to build in order to have clients; I intend to have clients in order to build.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Fountainhead", "slug": "the-fountainhead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 20, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead#Part_I_(_Peter_Keating_)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:08" }, { "id": "743084aa-71fd-4a95-98c4-e7d378e77f59", "slug": "masochism-is-a-valuable", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/choke/masochism-is-a-valuable", "text": "Masochism is a valuable job skill.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Choke", "slug": "choke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/choke" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Choke_(novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:04" }, { "id": "65a8bfa3-1d57-4823-ad16-45860ba4b45c", "slug": "but-its-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/norwegian-wood/but-its-the", "text": "\"But it's the working class that keep things running, and it's the working class that gets exploited. What the hell kind of revolution have you got just tossing out big words that working-class people can't understand? What the hell kind of social revolution is that?\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Haruki Murakami", "slug": "haruki-murakami", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami" }, "book": { "title": "Norwegian Wood", "slug": "norwegian-wood", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/norwegian-wood" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "revolution", "slug": "revolution", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/revolution" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norwegian_Wood_(novel)#Chapter_Seven", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:02" }, { "id": "dac91f12-d245-4ed8-b6e6-92cd2d043eb0", "slug": "and-i-know", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/tehanu/and-i-know", "text": "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....", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "Tehanu", "slug": "tehanu", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/tehanu" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#Tehanu_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:57" }, { "id": "8e2f1c63-4804-4c65-8b69-4421b9724869", "slug": "i-was-afraid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/orsinian-tales/i-was-afraid", "text": "I was afraid I’d fail. So I didn’t work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "Orsinian Tales", "slug": "orsinian-tales", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/orsinian-tales" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 93, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#Orsinian_Tales_(1976)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:50" }, { "id": "77120cd4-fcc5-4da0-a9bc-95f6f72fde18", "slug": "there-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-winds-twelve-quarters/there-is-not", "text": "There is not much good spending twelve hours a day in a black hole in the ground all your life long if there’s nothing there, no secret, no treasure, nothing hidden.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "The Wind’s Twelve Quarters", "slug": "the-winds-twelve-quarters", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-winds-twelve-quarters" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 212, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#The_Wind%E2%80%99s_Twelve_Quarters_(1975)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:50" }, { "id": "a70714aa-a11e-44dd-a94f-ffaa65abba00", "slug": "the-doctor-who", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-mortimer/where-theres-a-will/the-doctor-who", "text": "The doctor who makes a friend of his patients, the lawyer who defends death penalty cases in distant countries for no fee, the schoolteacher who opens a child's eyes to a new world of books and poetry — such people do nothing that can be measured in marketplaces. The greatest painters, composers and writers don't offer you choices, they present you with what only they can do, and you must take it or leave it. So when such subjects as the values of the marketplace are discussed, you will probably not have much to contribute. You can repeat a poem in your head and wait until the conversation is over. But if anyone starts talking about \"level playing fields,\" get up and steal quietly from the room.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Mortimer", "slug": "john-mortimer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-mortimer" }, "book": { "title": "Where There's a Will", "slug": "where-theres-a-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-mortimer/where-theres-a-will" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "culture", "slug": "culture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/culture" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Mortimer#Where_There's_a_Will:_Thoughts_on_the_Good_Life_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:44" }, { "id": "d4053b91-e91f-43c7-9c0e-7aff28cd2759", "slug": "theres-no-requirement", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/theres-no-requirement", "text": "There’s no requirement that jobs be meaningful, Jones. If there was, half the country would be unemployed.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Max Barry", "slug": "max-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry" }, "book": { "title": "Company", "slug": "company", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 334, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Barry#Company_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:43" }, { "id": "805ac66a-ea1c-43fc-b53e-de4ad8248a47", "slug": "ninety-five-percent-of-all", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/ninety-five-percent-of-all", "text": "Ninety-five percent of all jobs suck, Jones. That’s why people get paid to do them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Max Barry", "slug": "max-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry" }, "book": { "title": "Company", "slug": "company", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 112, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Barry#Company_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:43" }, { "id": "68a6cbbf-717b-4fb8-b1cf-91455ae22054", "slug": "sydney-feels-an-affinity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/sydney-feels-an-affinity", "text": "Sydney feels an affinity with Human Resources. She likes the name, with its not-so-hidden implication that employees are an exploitable resource, like stock or real estate. And not a particularly valuable one, despite that old chestnut about employees being the company’s most important asset. Sydney knows the truth: give the company cash resources, give it strategic partnerships, give it inventory; give it anything but prickly, unreliable, idiosyncratic humans. People are the worst: you can’t stack them, or (easily) relocate them, and you can’t even just leave them alone to accumulate value. That’s why the company requires HR: a department to transform humans into resources.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Max Barry", "slug": "max-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry" }, "book": { "title": "Company", "slug": "company", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 226, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "business", "slug": "business", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Barry#Company_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:43" }, { "id": "02a01b50-181c-41de-b25d-6b4e27616683", "slug": "the-infrastructure-control", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/the-infrastructure-control", "text": "The Infrastructure Control manager is a short, muscular man with a dark beard. He is an oddity in Zephyr Holdings: a person who started on the floor and was promoted through hard work. This makes other managers uncomfortable. The idea that you can get ahead through sheer competence, and not politicking, backstabbing, fleeing impending disasters, and clambering on board imminent successes, undermines everything they know.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Max Barry", "slug": "max-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry" }, "book": { "title": "Company", "slug": "company", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 222, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "business", "slug": "business", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Barry#Company_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:43" }, { "id": "b6e284aa-02a5-4f27-8a45-f4e26f1c824d", "slug": "the-easier-your", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/jennifer-government/the-easier-your", "text": "The easier your job, the more you got paid. John had suspected this for many years, but here was the proof: pulling down five hundred bucks an hour to sit in the afternoon sun on top of an L.A. office tower. He was wearing a suit and shades, reclining on a deck chair while a light breeze blew in from the bay. John thought he might have found the perfect job.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Max Barry", "slug": "max-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry" }, "book": { "title": "Jennifer Government", "slug": "jennifer-government", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/jennifer-government" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 138, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Barry#Jennifer_Government_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:42" }, { "id": "4e1057e9-4c8d-4799-9bb1-5b30bdc08729", "slug": "i-learned-pretty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup/i-learned-pretty", "text": "I learned pretty early in my career as an agent to be friendly to utter jerks; it’s an essential skill.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Max Barry", "slug": "max-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry" }, "book": { "title": "Syrup", "slug": "syrup", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 121, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "advice", "slug": "advice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/advice" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Barry#Syrup_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:42" }, { "id": "c3b92605-e352-44b7-9600-6420a9fdc08e", "slug": "to-get-a-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup/to-get-a-good", "text": "To get a good job in marketing, you need to market yourself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Max Barry", "slug": "max-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry" }, "book": { "title": "Syrup", "slug": "syrup", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 7, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "advertising", "slug": "advertising", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/advertising" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Barry#Syrup_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:41" }, { "id": "cd819d2a-8706-4486-9896-0427405694fd", "slug": "the-house-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread/the-house-was", "text": "The house was not built by its owner. It was erected, decorated, and furnished by innumerable workers — in the timber yard, the brick field, and the workshop, toiling for dear life at a minimum wage.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter Kropotkin", "slug": "peter-kropotkin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin" }, "book": { "title": "The Conquest of Bread", "slug": "the-conquest-of-bread", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin#The_Conquest_of_Bread_(1892)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:37" }, { "id": "9a076f16-d2e7-4cb5-956e-3e55c91be17b", "slug": "what-we-do-want", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread/what-we-do-want", "text": "What we do want is so to arrange things that every human being born into the world shall be ensured the opportunity in the first instance of learning some useful occupation, and of becoming skill in it; next, that he shall be free to work at his trade without asking leave of master or owner, and without handing over to landlord or capitalist the lion's share of what he produces.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter Kropotkin", "slug": "peter-kropotkin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin" }, "book": { "title": "The Conquest of Bread", "slug": "the-conquest-of-bread", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin#The_Conquest_of_Bread_(1892)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:37" }, { "id": "60442448-eed0-4283-a655-e7279ecc43e6", "slug": "millions-of-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread/millions-of-human", "text": "Millions of human beings have labored to create this civilization on which we pride ourselves today. Other millions, scattered through the globe, labor to maintain it. Without them nothing would be left in fifty years but ruins.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter Kropotkin", "slug": "peter-kropotkin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin" }, "book": { "title": "The Conquest of Bread", "slug": "the-conquest-of-bread", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "civilization", "slug": "civilization", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/civilization" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin#The_Conquest_of_Bread_(1892)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:37" }, { "id": "3775cd4c-b2f7-4c4b-a199-aa6e465f6311", "slug": "in-virtue-of-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread/in-virtue-of-this", "text": "In virtue of this monstrous system, the son of the worker, on entering life, finds no field which he may till, no machine which he may tend, no mine in which he may dog, without accepting to leave a great part of what he will produce to a master.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter Kropotkin", "slug": "peter-kropotkin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin" }, "book": { "title": "The Conquest of Bread", "slug": "the-conquest-of-bread", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 59, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "capitalism", "slug": "capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/capitalism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin#The_Conquest_of_Bread_(1892)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:37" }, { "id": "1d5e1f7e-bfac-436a-9d6a-2ec51df84fdf", "slug": "to-emancipate-woman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread/to-emancipate-woman", "text": "To emancipate woman is not only to open the gates of the university, the law courts, or the parliaments, for her, for the \"emancipated\" woman will always throw domestic toil on to another woman. To emancipate woman is to free her from the brutalizing toil of kitchen and washhouse; it is to organize your household in such a way as to enable her to rear her children, if she be so minded, while still retaining sufficient leisure to take her share of social life.\n\nIt will come to pass. As we have said, things are already improving. Only let us fully understand that a revolution, intoxicated with the beautiful words Liberty, Equality, Solidarity would not be a revolution if it maintained slavery at home. Half humanity subjected to the slavery of the hearth would still have to rebel against the other half.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter Kropotkin", "slug": "peter-kropotkin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin" }, "book": { "title": "The Conquest of Bread", "slug": "the-conquest-of-bread", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin#The_Conquest_of_Bread_(1892)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:37" }, { "id": "daf0e118-c4c7-41f4-9d3d-e5cab8360799", "slug": "there-are-it-seems", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/standing-by-words/there-are-it-seems", "text": "There are, it seems, two Muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say, “It is yet more difficult than you thought.” This is the muse of form. The first muse is the one mainly listened to in a cheap-energy civilization, in which “economic health” depends on the assumption that everything desirable lies within easy reach of anyone. To hear the second muse one must move outside the cheap-energy enclosure. It is the willingness to hear the second muse that keeps us cheerful in our work. To hear only the first is to live in the bitterness of disappointment.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wendell Berry", "slug": "wendell-berry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry" }, "book": { "title": "Standing by Words", "slug": "standing-by-words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/standing-by-words" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry#Poetry_and_Marriage:_The_Use_of_Old_Forms_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:24" }, { "id": "060962a1-eb7f-49da-98be-cf136756631b", "slug": "it-may-be-then", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/standing-by-words/it-may-be-then", "text": "It may be, then, that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work and that when we no longer know which way to go we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wendell Berry", "slug": "wendell-berry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry" }, "book": { "title": "Standing by Words", "slug": "standing-by-words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/standing-by-words" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "purpose", "slug": "purpose", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/purpose" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry#Poetry_and_Marriage:_The_Use_of_Old_Forms_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:24" }, { "id": "5f25c87f-c7c9-4b9f-a00e-969dfb604ed7", "slug": "whether-you-clean", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/survivor/whether-you-clean", "text": "Whether you clean a stain, a fish, a house, you want to think you're making the world a better place, but really you're just letting things get worse.You think if you work harder and faster, you can hold off the chaos, but then one day you're changing a patio lightbulb with a five-year life span and you realize how you'll only be changing this light maybe ten more times before you'll be dead. Time is running out. There isn't the energy you used to have. You start to slow down. You start to give in.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Survivor", "slug": "survivor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/survivor" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "transience", "slug": "transience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/transience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Survivor_(Palahniuk_novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:19" }, { "id": "14010ca3-0588-4044-983c-850813d77891", "slug": "the-driver-sat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath/the-driver-sat", "text": "The driver sat in his iron seat and he was proud of the straight lines he did not will, proud of the tractor he did not own or love, proud of the power he could not control. And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "The Grapes of Wrath", "slug": "the-grapes-of-wrath", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "technology", "slug": "technology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:59" }, { "id": "cde86b76-5dd9-4c9a-ba66-8eadd59803a2", "slug": "to-love-ones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-sontag/death-kit/to-love-ones", "text": "To love one's work is a way of loving oneself, and leaves one freer to love other people.\n\nBut beware the difference between loving one's work and being merely engrossed in it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Susan Sontag", "slug": "susan-sontag", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-sontag" }, "book": { "title": "Death Kit", "slug": "death-kit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-sontag/death-kit" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 149, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Sontag#Death_Kit_(1967)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:55" }, { "id": "9d526f4c-2129-40ed-b5d8-06ea69574a5f", "slug": "the-most-important", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/vaclav-havel/disturbing-the-peace/the-most-important", "text": "The most important thing is that man should be the measure of all structures, including economic structures, and not that man be made to measure for those structures. The most important thing is not to lose sight of personal relationships — i.e., the relationships between man and his co-workers, between subordinates and their superiors, between man and his work, between this work and its consequences.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Václav Havel", "slug": "vaclav-havel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/vaclav-havel" }, "book": { "title": "Disturbing the Peace", "slug": "disturbing-the-peace", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/vaclav-havel/disturbing-the-peace" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 13, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Havel#Disturbing_the_Peace_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:55" }, { "id": "e5aa7b30-b47b-4d89-aff8-dcb9399aa886", "slug": "she-smiled-i-know", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged/she-smiled-i-know", "text": "She smiled. \"I know, this is a place where one employs nothing but aristocrats for the lousiest kind of jobs.\"\n\n\"They’re all aristocrats, that's true,\" said Wyatt, \"because they know that there's no such thing as a lousy job—only lousy men who don't care to do it.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "Atlas Shrugged", "slug": "atlas-shrugged", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 721, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged#Chapter_One:_Atlantis", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:52" }, { "id": "9a9cdfe9-be02-43f9-8da7-46e3704665a9", "slug": "whats-wealth-but", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged/whats-wealth-but", "text": "\"What's wealth but the means of expanding one's life? There's two ways one can do it: either by producing more or by producing it faster. And that's what I'm doing: I'm manufacturing time.\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"I'm producing everything I need, I'm working to improve my methods, and every hour I save is an hour added to my life.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "Atlas Shrugged", "slug": "atlas-shrugged", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 721, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged#Chapter_One:_Atlantis", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:52" }, { "id": "a98dc1f7-6214-4244-9f6f-e89ed07b7b6d", "slug": "have-you-ever-looked", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged/have-you-ever-looked", "text": "\"Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions—and you'll learn that man's mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "Atlas Shrugged", "slug": "atlas-shrugged", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 410, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "reason", "slug": "reason", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reason" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged#Chapter_Two:_The_Aristocracy_of_Pull", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:51" }, { "id": "953b294a-024e-4c39-849e-fab4c890d396", "slug": "because-of-their", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd/because-of-their", "text": "Because of their historical theory of the “alienation of labor” (that the worker must become less and less in control of the work of his hands) the Marxist parties never fought for the man-worthy job itself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paul Goodman", "slug": "paul-goodman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman" }, "book": { "title": "Growing Up Absurd", "slug": "growing-up-absurd", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 37, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Goodman#Growing_Up_Absurd_(1956)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:40" }, { "id": "28cddce6-8acd-46a7-a7f4-e578382ff01f", "slug": "to-want-a-job", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd/to-want-a-job", "text": "To want a job that exercises a man’s capacities in an enterprise useful to society, is utopian anarcho-syndicalism; it is labor invading the domain of management. No labor leader has entertained such a thought in our generation. Management has the “sole prerogative” to determine the products.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paul Goodman", "slug": "paul-goodman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman" }, "book": { "title": "Growing Up Absurd", "slug": "growing-up-absurd", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 37, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Goodman#Growing_Up_Absurd_(1956)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:40" }, { "id": "01d77936-5db5-45fd-bb90-b821161ce5c4", "slug": "the-ideal-of-having", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd/the-ideal-of-having", "text": "The ideal of having a real job that you risk your soul in and make good or be damned, belongs to the heroic age of capitalist enterprise, imbued with self-righteous beliefs about hard work, thrift, and public morals. Such an ideal might still have been mentioned in public fifty years ago; in our era of risk-insured semimonopolies and advertised vices it would be met with a ghastly stillness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paul Goodman", "slug": "paul-goodman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman" }, "book": { "title": "Growing Up Absurd", "slug": "growing-up-absurd", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 36, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "capitalism", "slug": "capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/capitalism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Goodman#Growing_Up_Absurd_(1956)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:40" }, { "id": "083f3d2d-46b3-4ce0-8e06-47e5e5932b30", "slug": "bobby-noticed-two", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dean-koontz/the-bad-place/bobby-noticed-two", "text": "Bobby noticed two colorful charts posted on the wall near the refrigerator. The first displayed each kid's grades and major test results since the start of the school year in September. The other was a list of household chores for which each child was responsible. … Some attributed Asian-Americans' success to a conspiracy, but Bobby saw the simple explanation for their achievements everywhere in the Phan house: They tried harder. They embraced the ideals upon which the country had been based — including hard work, honesty, goal-oriented self-denial, and the freedom to be whatever one wanted to be. Ironically, their great success was partly due to the fact that so many born Americans had become cynical about those same ideals.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dean Koontz", "slug": "dean-koontz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dean-koontz" }, "book": { "title": "The Bad Place", "slug": "the-bad-place", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dean-koontz/the-bad-place" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "America", "slug": "america", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/america" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dean_Koontz#The_Bad_Place_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:24" }, { "id": "7f55bba9-412d-4ca7-a1b7-8881aeb1b7d6", "slug": "the-more-i-want", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-bach/illusions/the-more-i-want", "text": "The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Bach", "slug": "richard-bach", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-bach" }, "book": { "title": "Illusions", "slug": "illusions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-bach/illusions" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Bach#Illusions_:_The_Adventures_of_a_Reluctant_Messiah_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:18" }, { "id": "18555060-c389-4209-aedd-c7ff73f7177c", "slug": "you-are-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-bach/illusions/you-are-never", "text": "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true.\n\nYou may have to work for it, however.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Bach", "slug": "richard-bach", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-bach" }, "book": { "title": "Illusions", "slug": "illusions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-bach/illusions" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "dreams and aspirations", "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Bach#Illusions_:_The_Adventures_of_a_Reluctant_Messiah_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:18" }, { "id": "7f530b99-1831-46f3-97cd-f6cdd1c8f688", "slug": "it-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-short-reign-of-pippin-iv/it-is-the", "text": "It is the misfortune of men to want to do a thing well, even a thing they do not want to do at all.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "The Short Reign of Pippin IV", "slug": "the-short-reign-of-pippin-iv", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-short-reign-of-pippin-iv" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#The_Short_Reign_of_Pippin_IV_(1957)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:01" }, { "id": "32507853-fe50-4041-b033-a4a4f8eaaefe", "slug": "if-any-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derrick-jensen/the-culture-of-make-believe/if-any-thing", "text": "If any thing can be predicated as universally true of uncultivated man, it is that he will not labour beyond what is absolutely necessary to maintain his existence.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Derrick Jensen", "slug": "derrick-jensen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derrick-jensen" }, "book": { "title": "The Culture of Make Believe", "slug": "the-culture-of-make-believe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derrick-jensen/the-culture-of-make-believe" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 59, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "laziness", "slug": "laziness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/laziness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Derrick_Jensen#The_Culture_of_Make_Believe_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:51" }, { "id": "996a5821-8c60-4d12-a465-dd277763eb09", "slug": "i-remember-staring", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derrick-jensen/a-language-older-than-words/i-remember-staring", "text": "I remember staring at the computer screen--light green letters on dark--then at the clock, and finally at my outstretched fingers held a foot in front of my face. And then it dawned on me: selling the hours of my life was no different from selling my fingers one by one. We've only so many hours, so many fingers; when they're gone, they're gone for good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Derrick Jensen", "slug": "derrick-jensen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derrick-jensen" }, "book": { "title": "A Language Older Than Words", "slug": "a-language-older-than-words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derrick-jensen/a-language-older-than-words" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Derrick_Jensen#A_Language_Older_Than_Words_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:50" }, { "id": "0cccd269-22e6-430f-8fe9-e4ec3d8a4f15", "slug": "theres-all-kinds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson/red-mars/theres-all-kinds", "text": "...there’s all kinds of phantom work! Unreal values assigned to most of the jobs on Earth! The entire transnational executive class does nothing a computer couldn’t do, and there are whole categories of parasitical jobs that add nothing to the system by an ecologic accounting. Advertising, stock brokerage, the whole apparatus for making money only from the manipulation of money—that is not only wasteful but corrupting, as all meaningful money values get distorted in such manipulation.” She waved a hand in disgust.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kim Stanley Robinson", "slug": "kim-stanley-robinson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson" }, "book": { "title": "Red Mars", "slug": "red-mars", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson/red-mars" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 299, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kim_Stanley_Robinson#Red_Mars_(1992)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:44" }, { "id": "4e497cd5-3d31-46d4-80c2-388055abdae7", "slug": "very-important-functions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-affluent-society/very-important-functions", "text": "Very important functions can be performed very wastefully and often are.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Kenneth Galbraith", "slug": "john-kenneth-galbraith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith" }, "book": { "title": "The Affluent Society", "slug": "the-affluent-society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-affluent-society" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith#The_Affluent_Society_(1958)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:55" }, { "id": "d0c255bb-5ba2-41d6-82cb-965bf0f2b365", "slug": "men-meet-together", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-great-crash-1929/men-meet-together", "text": "Men meet together for many reasons in the course of business. They need to instruct or persuade each other. They must agree on a course of action. They find thinking in public more productive or less painful than thinking in private. But there are at least as many reasons for meetings to transact no business. Meetings are held because men seek companionship or, at a minimum, wish to escape the tedium of solitary duties. They yearn for the prestige which accrues to the man who presides over meetings, and this leads them to convoke assemblages over which they can preside. Finally, there is the meeting which is called not because there is business to be done, but because it is necessary to create the impression that business is being done. Such meetings are more than a substitute for action. They are widely regarded as action.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Kenneth Galbraith", "slug": "john-kenneth-galbraith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith" }, "book": { "title": "The Great Crash 1929", "slug": "the-great-crash-1929", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-great-crash-1929" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 139, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith#The_Great_Crash,_1929_(1954_and_1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:54" }, { "id": "af5c6808-b307-4209-bde3-e0b05890104a", "slug": "there-is-nothing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/mansfield-park/there-is-nothing", "text": "There is nothing like employment, active indispensable employment, for relieving sorrow. Employment, even melancholy, may dispel melancholy, and her occupations were hopeful.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Austen", "slug": "jane-austen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen" }, "book": { "title": "Mansfield Park", "slug": "mansfield-park", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/mansfield-park" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "sadness", "slug": "sadness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sadness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mansfield_Park_(novel)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:53" }, { "id": "6d44ac31-7eb3-48ff-b09b-6d0c93a1c213", "slug": "mcjob-a-low-pay", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/mcjob-a-low-pay", "text": "McJob - a low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector. Frequently considered a satisfying career choice by people who have never held one. (page 5)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Coupland", "slug": "douglas-coupland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland" }, "book": { "title": "Generation X", "slug": "generation-x", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Generation_X:_Tales_for_an_Accelerated_Culture#M", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:50" }, { "id": "1086c160-5300-431c-9465-bb859ffa1285", "slug": "no-one-yet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leon-trotsky/terrorism-and-communism/no-one-yet", "text": "No one yet has learned to drive a locomotive sitting in his study.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Leon Trotsky", "slug": "leon-trotsky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leon-trotsky" }, "book": { "title": "Terrorism and Communism", "slug": "terrorism-and-communism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leon-trotsky/terrorism-and-communism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 101, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "experience", "slug": "experience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/experience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky#Terrorism_and_Communism_(1920)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:45" }, { "id": "779ff4a8-1bd5-4d4c-996f-997db1fa0b10", "slug": "jurgis-had-come", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair/the-jungle/jurgis-had-come", "text": "Jurgis had come there, and thought he was going to make himself useful, and rise and become a skilled man; but he would soon find out his error—for nobody rose in Packingtown by doing good work. You could lay that down for a rule—if you met a man who was rising in Packingtown, you met a knave. That man who had been sent to Jurgis' father by the boss, he would rise; the man who told tales and spied upon his fellows would rise; but the man who minded his own business and did his work—why, they would \"speed him up\" till they had worn him out, and then they would throw him into the gutter.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Upton Sinclair", "slug": "upton-sinclair", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair" }, "book": { "title": "The Jungle", "slug": "the-jungle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair/the-jungle" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Jungle_(novel)#Chapter_5", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:44" }, { "id": "97e6069e-fa67-4c71-bd85-afa05d46d74c", "slug": "our-governments-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-g-ballard/cocaine-nights/our-governments-are", "text": "Our governments are preparing for a future without work, and that includes the petty criminals. Leisure societies lie ahead of us. … People will still work — or, rather, some people will work, but only for a decade of their lives. They will retire in their late thirties, with fifty years of idleness in front of them. … But how do you energize people, give them back some sense of community? A world lying on its back is vulnerable to any cunning predator. Politics are a pastime for a professional caste and fail to excite the rest of us. Religious belief demands a vast effort of imaginative and emotional commitment, difficult to muster if you're still groggy from last night's sleeping pill. Only one thing is left which can rouse people, threaten them directly and force them to act together. … Crime, and transgressive behavior — by which I mean all activities which aren't necessarily illegal, but provoke us and tap our need for strong emotion, quicken the nervous system and jump the synapses deadened by leisure and inaction.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "J. G. Ballard", "slug": "j-g-ballard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-g-ballard" }, "book": { "title": "Cocaine Nights", "slug": "cocaine-nights", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-g-ballard/cocaine-nights" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "crime", "slug": "crime", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/crime" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._G._Ballard#Cocaine_Nights_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:43" }, { "id": "f04d0a21-4e08-419d-9a45-b4d5d686f258", "slug": "no-man-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/napoleon-hill/think-and-grow-rich/no-man-can", "text": "No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like. The most essential step in the marketing of personal services is that of selecting an occupation into which you can throw yourself wholeheartedly. p. 87", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Napoleon Hill", "slug": "napoleon-hill", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/napoleon-hill" }, "book": { "title": "Think And Grow Rich", "slug": "think-and-grow-rich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/napoleon-hill/think-and-grow-rich" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "passion", "slug": "passion-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/passion-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Napoleon_Hill#Think_and_Grow_Rich_(1938)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:18" }, { "id": "30552e50-c551-4394-a1e6-ad364053d118", "slug": "there-is-a-great", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/freeman-dyson/disturbing-the-universe/there-is-a-great", "text": "There is a great satisfaction in building good tools for other people to use.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Freeman Dyson", "slug": "freeman-dyson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/freeman-dyson" }, "book": { "title": "Disturbing The Universe", "slug": "disturbing-the-universe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/freeman-dyson/disturbing-the-universe" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "helping others", "slug": "helping-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/helping-others" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson#Disturbing_the_Universe_(1979)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:12" }, { "id": "dc107322-3b82-483b-8ec1-1b2fce47df88", "slug": "i-have-a-theory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson/kingdom-of-fear/i-have-a-theory", "text": "I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Hunter S. Thompson", "slug": "hunter-s-thompson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson" }, "book": { "title": "Kingdom of Fear", "slug": "kingdom-of-fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson/kingdom-of-fear" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson#Kingdom_of_Fear:_Loathsome_Secrets_of_a_Star-crossed_Child_in_the_Final_Days_of_the_American_Century_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:10" }, { "id": "60cd2385-a3cf-4a24-b538-0218a1220624", "slug": "still-i-am-restless", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/maske-thaery/still-i-am-restless", "text": "“Still, I am restless; in all my life I have achieved nothing.”\n\n“Work and fatigue are well-known cures for restlessness! And what is achievement after all? Another name for vanity!”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Vance", "slug": "jack-vance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance" }, "book": { "title": "Maske: Thaery", "slug": "maske-thaery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/maske-thaery" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 15, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride" }, { "name": "ambition", "slug": "ambition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ambition" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Vance#Maske:_Thaery_(1976)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:55" }, { "id": "68b2c499-6af5-4bb5-aeb2-b57900a238fa", "slug": "if-the-dictators", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/vandals-of-the-void/if-the-dictators", "text": "If the dictators and militarists who used to start wars had to earn by manual labor what their wars cost, there would have been very few wars.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Vance", "slug": "jack-vance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance" }, "book": { "title": "Vandals of the Void", "slug": "vandals-of-the-void", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/vandals-of-the-void" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 31, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Vance#Vandals_of_the_Void_(1953)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:54" }, { "id": "fa2eb8ec-a2a8-43a7-b579-f6551bfaa0b6", "slug": "i-am-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/i-am-not", "text": "I am not a manual labourer and please God I shall never be one, but there are some kinds of manual work that I could do if I had to. At a pinch I could be a tolerable road-sweeper or an inefficient gardener or even a tenth-rate farm hand. But by no conceivable amount of effort or training could I become a coal-miner; the work would kill me in a few weeks.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:50" }, { "id": "f6b6d6fd-4062-48a6-9ad9-675acc4bce84", "slug": "it-is-so-with", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/it-is-so-with", "text": "It is so with all types of manual work; it keeps us alive, and we are oblivious of its existence. In a way it is even humiliating to watch coal miners working. It raises in you a momentary doubt about your own status as an 'intellectual' and a superior person generally. For it is brought home to you, at least while you are watching, that it is only because miners sweat their guts out that superior persons can remain superior.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "intellectuals", "slug": "intellectuals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intellectuals" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:50" }, { "id": "f08f8cec-8816-492f-a6ba-2af629fe4c14", "slug": "this-business-of-petty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/this-business-of-petty", "text": "This business of petty inconvenience and indignity, of being kept waiting about, of having to do everything at other people's convenience, is inherent in working-class life. A thousand influences constantly press a working man down into a passive role. He does not act, he is acted upon. He feels himself the slave of mysterious authority and has a firm conviction that 'they' will never allow him to do this, that, and the other.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:50" }, { "id": "0cc2f740-459f-4cc4-82e1-00a2bec311c5", "slug": "in-such-places", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/in-such-places", "text": "In such places as these a woman is only a poor drudge muddling among an infinity of jobs. She may keep up her spirits, but she cannot keep up her standards of cleanliness and tidiness. There is always something to be done, and no conveniences and almost literally not room to turn round. No sooner have you washed one child's face than another is dirty; before you have washed the crocks from one meal the next is due to be cooked.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:50" }, { "id": "790ced36-2fc3-43ff-be8e-feee988a4863", "slug": "time-and-industry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes/leviathan/time-and-industry", "text": "Time, and Industry, produce everyday new knowledge.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Hobbes", "slug": "thomas-hobbes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes" }, "book": { "title": "Leviathan", "slug": "leviathan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes/leviathan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 176, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes#Chapter_30", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:48" }, { "id": "617b7ff7-da17-4949-b1e2-3f426caac82f", "slug": "kilgores-creed-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/timequake/kilgores-creed-you", "text": "Kilgore's Creed: \"You were sick, but now you're well again, and there's work to do.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Timequake", "slug": "timequake", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/timequake" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 196, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "health", "slug": "health", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/health" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Timequake#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:44" }, { "id": "9cdbfe65-93ac-4936-9469-b417dcccd01f", "slug": "another-flaw-in-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/hocus-pocus/another-flaw-in-the", "text": "Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Hocus Pocus", "slug": "hocus-pocus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/hocus-pocus" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Hocus_Pocus_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:43" }, { "id": "f46c52a7-7df2-4054-8387-5908b6788632", "slug": "labor-history-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/jailbird/labor-history-was", "text": "Labor history was pornography of a sort in those days, and even more so in these days. In public schools and in the homes of nice people it was and remains pretty much taboo to tell tales of labor's sufferings and derring-do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Jailbird", "slug": "jailbird", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/jailbird" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 12, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Jailbird_(1979)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:41" }, { "id": "f45a3a81-fdc0-4eed-afb8-14d6d0a76b66", "slug": "why-are-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano/why-are-you", "text": "\"Why are you quitting?\"\n\n\"Sick of my job.\"\n\n\"Because what you were doing was morally bad?\" suggested the voice.\n\n\"Because it wasn't getting anybody anywhere. Because it was getting everybody nowhere.\"\n\n\"Because it was evil?\" insisted the voice.\n\n\"Because it was pointless.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Player Piano", "slug": "player-piano", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 271, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Player_Piano_(1952)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:34" }, { "id": "f0c424eb-e68a-492e-baf5-2f72ecdfc760", "slug": "almost-nobodys-competent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano/almost-nobodys-competent", "text": "Almost nobody's competent, Paul. It's enough to make you cry to see how bad most people are at their jobs. If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Player Piano", "slug": "player-piano", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 219, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Player_Piano_(1952)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:34" }, { "id": "bdd366ed-24e0-4581-b21c-28b0209f8e36", "slug": "evidence-of-submission", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/skin-in-the-game/evidence-of-submission", "text": "Evidence of submission is displayed by the employee’s going through years depriving himself of his personal freedom for nine hours every day, his ritualistic and punctual arrival at an office, his denying himself his own schedule, and his not having beaten up anyone on the way back home after a bad day. He is an obedient, housebroken dog.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "Skin in the Game", "slug": "skin-in-the-game", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/skin-in-the-game" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 98, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "obedience", "slug": "obedience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/obedience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#Skin_in_the_Game_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:34" }, { "id": "7e3620a4-19ec-4664-8f96-5a72eb912518", "slug": "when-paul-thought", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano/when-paul-thought", "text": "When Paul thought about his effortless rise in the hierarchy, he sometimes, as now, felt sheepish, like a charlatan. He could handle his assignments all right, but he didn't have what his father had, what Kroner had, what Shepherd had, what so many had: the sense of spiritual importance in what they were doing; the ability to be moved emotionally, almost like a lover, by the great omnipresent and omniscient spook, the corporate personality. In short, what Paul missed was what made his father aggressive and great: the capacity to really give a damn.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Player Piano", "slug": "player-piano", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 66, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "passion", "slug": "passion-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/passion-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Player_Piano_(1952)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:34" }, { "id": "0b365ef8-b213-459a-9f44-7cd09ac53836", "slug": "in-order-to-get", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano/in-order-to-get", "text": "In order to get what we've got, Anita, we have, in effect, traded these people out of what was the most important thing on earth to them — the feeling of being needed and useful, the foundation of self-respect.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Player Piano", "slug": "player-piano", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 169, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "technology", "slug": "technology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology" }, { "name": "self-esteem", "slug": "self-esteem", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Player_Piano_(1952)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:34" }, { "id": "ec37580a-fa52-4a0c-a0cd-1d20a09ddf43", "slug": "ethical-man-accords", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes/ethical-man-accords", "text": "Ethical man accords his profession to his beliefs, instead of according his beliefs to his profession.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "The Bed of Procrustes", "slug": "the-bed-of-procrustes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 66, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "beliefs", "slug": "beliefs", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beliefs" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#The_Bed_of_Procrustes:_Philosophical_and_Practical_Aphorisms_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:32" }, { "id": "a5af02f1-8a77-4464-98a1-77a2130753f5", "slug": "someone-who-says", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes/someone-who-says", "text": "Someone who says “I am busy” is either declaring incompetence (and lack of control of his life) or trying to get rid of you.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "The Bed of Procrustes", "slug": "the-bed-of-procrustes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 26, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "excuses", "slug": "excuses", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/excuses" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#The_Bed_of_Procrustes:_Philosophical_and_Practical_Aphorisms_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:32" }, { "id": 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"https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#The_Bed_of_Procrustes:_Philosophical_and_Practical_Aphorisms_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:32" }, { "id": "622cb548-6c54-4f08-af9c-6d7c9028cd6b", "slug": "only-in-recent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes/only-in-recent", "text": "Only in recent history has “working hard” signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "The Bed of Procrustes", "slug": "the-bed-of-procrustes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 39, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "talent", "slug": "talent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#The_Bed_of_Procrustes:_Philosophical_and_Practical_Aphorisms_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:32" }, { "id": "39f3e8ea-03bd-4538-94fb-17cd8f47117f", "slug": "those-who-do-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes/those-who-do-not", "text": "Those who do not think that employment is systemic slavery are either blind or employed.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "The Bed of Procrustes", "slug": "the-bed-of-procrustes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 30, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "slavery", "slug": "slavery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/slavery" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#The_Bed_of_Procrustes:_Philosophical_and_Practical_Aphorisms_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:32" }, { "id": "17ce102c-5e1f-4ef5-af70-d32320fe3ece", "slug": "the-difference-between", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes/the-difference-between", "text": "The difference between slaves in Roman and Ottoman days and today’s employees is that slaves did not need to flatter their boss.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "The Bed of Procrustes", "slug": "the-bed-of-procrustes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 26, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "slavery", "slug": "slavery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/slavery" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#The_Bed_of_Procrustes:_Philosophical_and_Practical_Aphorisms_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:32" }, { "id": "07e81819-4ab6-488f-ac2a-0f35d0175165", "slug": "decomposition-for-most", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes/decomposition-for-most", "text": "Decomposition, for most, starts when they leave the free, social, and uncorrupted college life for the solitary confinement of professions and nuclear families.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "The Bed of Procrustes", "slug": "the-bed-of-procrustes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 41, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "youth", "slug": "youth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth" }, { "name": "family", "slug": "family", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/family" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#The_Bed_of_Procrustes:_Philosophical_and_Practical_Aphorisms_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:32" }, { "id": "7327f15f-491e-4dcf-8ab6-521980a35f2c", "slug": "trading-forces-someone", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fooled-by-randomness/trading-forces-someone", "text": "Trading forces someone to think hard; those who merely work hard generally lose their focus and intellectual energy. In addition, they end up drowning in randomness; work ethics draw people to focus on noise rather than the signal.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "Fooled by Randomness", "slug": "fooled-by-randomness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fooled-by-randomness" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#Fooled_by_Randomness_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:30" }, { "id": "d7046419-7968-4940-8e79-330d2fa6d57c", "slug": "and-oft-times-cometh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rudyard-kipling/barrack-room-ballads/and-oft-times-cometh", "text": "And oft-times cometh our wise Lord God, master of every trade,\n\nAnd tells them tales of His daily toil, of Edens newly made;\n\nAnd they rise to their feet as He passes by, gentlemen unafraid.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Rudyard Kipling", "slug": "rudyard-kipling", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rudyard-kipling" }, "book": { "title": "Barrack-Room Ballads", "slug": "barrack-room-ballads", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rudyard-kipling/barrack-room-ballads" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling#Barrack-Room_Ballads_(1892,_1896)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:25" }, { "id": "e3acbd73-c393-4ea5-8cdb-7048dd95d3ce", "slug": "she-could-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-james/the-portrait-of-a-lady/she-could-never", "text": "She could never rid herself of the sense that unhappiness was a state of disease – of suffering as opposed to doing. To \"do\" – it hardly mattered what – would therefore be an escape, perhaps in some degree a remedy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Henry James", "slug": "henry-james", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-james" }, "book": { "title": "The Portrait of a Lady", "slug": "the-portrait-of-a-lady", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-james/the-portrait-of-a-lady" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "sadness", "slug": "sadness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sadness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_James#The_Portrait_of_a_Lady_(1881)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:23" }, { "id": "e35435aa-df1d-4e65-965c-d888206237d7", "slug": "to-people-off", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/the-professors-house/to-people-off", "text": "To people off alone, as we were, there is something stirring about finding evidences of human labour and care in the soil of an empty country. It comes to you as a sort of message, makes you feel differently about the ground you walk over every day.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "The Professor's House", "slug": "the-professors-house", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/the-professors-house" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#The_Professor's_House_(1925)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:03" }, { "id": "b60e3fb8-150b-4f50-8c9c-ab427b395d03", "slug": "a-work-room-should", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/the-professors-house/a-work-room-should", "text": "A work-room should be like an old shoe; no matter how shabby, it's better than a new one.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "The Professor's House", "slug": "the-professors-house", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/the-professors-house" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "habits", "slug": "habits", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/habits" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#The_Professor's_House_(1925)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:03" }, { "id": "5a38794d-8181-429f-ae9b-b8ec8e6bb07e", "slug": "the-windy-springs", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/my-antonia/the-windy-springs", "text": "The windy springs and the blazing summers, one after another, had enriched and mellowed that flat tableland; all the human effort that had gone into it was coming back in long, sweeping lines of fertility. The changes seemed beautiful and harmonious to me; it was like watching the growth of a great man or of a great idea. I recognized every tree and sandbank and rugged draw. 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Mrs. Clark says it's to find a job you hate even more.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Haunted", "slug": "haunted", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/haunted" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chuck_Palahniuk#Haunted_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:59" }, { "id": "7d1a711f-1479-443b-9393-95b4e04746c6", "slug": "on-second-handers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-journals-of-ayn-rand/on-second-handers", "text": "On second handers: [They are] always concerned with people - not facts, ideas, work or production. What would happen to the world without those who think, work, and produce?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Journals of Ayn Rand", "slug": "the-journals-of-ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-journals-of-ayn-rand" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "conformity", "slug": "conformity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#Journals_of_Ayn_Rand_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:54" }, { "id": "94fafe04-c39b-4866-b670-0fe894608033", "slug": "poverty-ignorance-illness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-virtue-of-selfishness/poverty-ignorance-illness", "text": "Poverty, ignorance, illness and other problems of that kind are not metaphysical emergencies. By the metaphysical nature of man and of existence, man has to maintain his life by his own effort; the values he needs—such as wealth or knowledge—are not given to him automatically, as a gift of nature, but have to be discovered and achieved by his own thinking and work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Virtue of Selfishness", "slug": "the-virtue-of-selfishness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-virtue-of-selfishness" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#The_Virtue_of_Selfishness_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:51" }, { "id": "e10be0c2-ce6d-4e10-a97b-8fe90a058571", "slug": "work-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle/the-return-of-sherlock-holmes/work-is-the", "text": "Work is the best antidote to sorrow.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Conan Doyle", "slug": "arthur-conan-doyle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle" }, "book": { "title": "The Return of Sherlock Holmes", "slug": "the-return-of-sherlock-holmes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle/the-return-of-sherlock-holmes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 488, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "sadness", "slug": "sadness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sadness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes#The_Adventure_of_the_Empty_House_(1903)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:42" }, { "id": "dc9e641d-8fa5-42eb-8f89-365c3e5f5348", "slug": "it-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/it-is-not", "text": "It is not so impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this, I have endeavoured in my case to do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Conan Doyle", "slug": "arthur-conan-doyle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle" }, "book": { "title": "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", "slug": "the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 225, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes#The_Five_Orange_Pips", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:40" }, { "id": "9ed02dc0-3bf3-4139-8947-273a8c559dcd", "slug": "they-say-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle/a-study-in-scarlet/they-say-that", "text": "\"They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains,\" he remarked with a smile. \"It's a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Conan Doyle", "slug": "arthur-conan-doyle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle" }, "book": { "title": "A Study in Scarlet", "slug": "a-study-in-scarlet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-conan-doyle/a-study-in-scarlet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 31, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "genius", "slug": "genius", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/genius" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes#A_Study_in_Scarlet_(1887)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:39" }, { "id": "ca85e50f-22c5-4fd5-8d79-409b1ee5afe3", "slug": "he-saw-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/the-town-and-the-city/he-saw-that", "text": "He saw that all the struggles of life were incessant, laborious, painful, that nothing was done quickly, without labor, that it had to undergo a thousand fondlings, revisings, moldings, addings, removings, graftings, tearings, correctings, smoothings, rebuildings, reconsiderings, nailings, tackings, chippings, hammerings, hoistings, connectings — all the poor fumbling uncertain incompletions of human endeavor. They went on forever and were forever incomplete, far from perfect, refined, or smooth, full of terrible memories of failure and fears of failure, yet, in the way of things, somehow noble, complete, and shining in the end. This he could sense even from the old house they lived in, with its solidly built walls and floors that held together like rock: some man, possibly an angry pessimistic man, had built the house long ago, but the house stood, and his anger and pessimism and irritable labourious sweats were forgotten; the house stood, and other men lived in it and were sheltered well in it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Kerouac", "slug": "jack-kerouac", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac" }, "book": { "title": "The Town and the City", "slug": "the-town-and-the-city", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/the-town-and-the-city" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perfection", "slug": "perfection", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perfection" }, { "name": "effort", "slug": "effort", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/effort" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac#The_Town_and_the_City_(1950)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:29" }, { "id": "59d9f7db-d1aa-440d-819c-8676f5abe5b8", "slug": "the-intellectuals-spirit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-w-said/representations-of-the-intellectual/the-intellectuals-spirit", "text": "The intellectual's spirit as an amateur can enter and transform the merely professional routine most of us go through into something much more lively and radical; instead of doing what one is supposed to do one can ask why one does it, who benefits from it, how can it reconnect with a personal project and original thoughts.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edward W. Said", "slug": "edward-w-said", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-w-said" }, "book": { "title": "Representations of the Intellectual", "slug": "representations-of-the-intellectual", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-w-said/representations-of-the-intellectual" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 83, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "intellectuals", "slug": "intellectuals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intellectuals" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_Said#Representations_of_the_Intellectual:_The_1993_Reith_Lectures", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:22" }, { "id": "9a5a219e-2c91-4b83-a642-548cfd67554f", "slug": "i-think-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller/something-happened/i-think-that", "text": "I think that maybe in every company today there is always at least one person who is going crazy slowly.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Heller", "slug": "joseph-heller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller" }, "book": { "title": "SOMETHING HAPPENED", "slug": "something-happened", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller/something-happened" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "madness", "slug": "madness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/madness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Something_Happened#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:13" }, { "id": "83120303-8c12-4c5b-80d7-38459d25010c", "slug": "if-you-asked", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller/something-happened/if-you-asked", "text": "...if you asked any one of them if he would choose to spend the rest of his life working for the company, he would give you a resounding No!, regardless of what inducements were offered. I was that high once. If you asked me that same question today, I would also give you a resounding No! and add:\n\n\"I think I'd rather die now.\"\n\nBut I am making no plans to leave.\n\nI have the feeling now that there is no place left for me to go.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Heller", "slug": "joseph-heller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller" }, "book": { "title": "SOMETHING HAPPENED", "slug": "something-happened", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller/something-happened" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "acceptance", "slug": "acceptance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Something_Happened#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:13" }, { "id": "0bc99a48-1700-427e-b6f2-2d9d4d6857a4", "slug": "its-a-real", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller/something-happened/its-a-real", "text": "It's a real problem to decide whether it's more boring to do something boring than to pass along everything boring that comes in to somebody else and then have nothing to do at all.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Heller", "slug": "joseph-heller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller" }, "book": { "title": "SOMETHING HAPPENED", "slug": "something-happened", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-heller/something-happened" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "boredom", "slug": "boredom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/boredom" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Something_Happened#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:13" }, { "id": "bf33f7ac-c0e5-4d96-b726-6b17b7d50bd9", "slug": "so-thats-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/the-three-stigmata-of-palmer-eldritch/so-thats-that", "text": "So that’s that, Barney said to himself. I violated Rule One of career-oriented functioning: never tell your superior something he doesn’t want to hear.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip K. Dick", "slug": "philip-k-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick" }, "book": { "title": "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", "slug": "the-three-stigmata-of-palmer-eldritch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/the-three-stigmata-of-palmer-eldritch" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 60, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick#The_Three_Stigmata_of_Palmer_Eldritch_(1965)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:05" }, { "id": "be4051ab-d780-4a46-8c7b-b9eea0586699", "slug": "theres-a-law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/clans-of-the-alphane-moon/theres-a-law", "text": "“There’s a law,” Chuck said, “which I call Rittersdorf’s Third Law of Diminished Returns, which states that proportional to how long you hold a job you imagine that it has progressively less and less importance in the scheme of things.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip K. Dick", "slug": "philip-k-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick" }, "book": { "title": "Clans of the Alphane Moon", "slug": "clans-of-the-alphane-moon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/clans-of-the-alphane-moon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 47, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick#Clans_of_the_Alphane_Moon_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:04" }, { "id": "5140063a-eb22-4764-9b93-3703456e8f72", "slug": "in-all-possible", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/eye-in-the-sky/in-all-possible", "text": "In all possible universes, Monday was the same.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip K. Dick", "slug": "philip-k-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick" }, "book": { "title": "Eye In The Sky", "slug": "eye-in-the-sky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/eye-in-the-sky" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 119, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick#Eye_in_the_Sky_(1957)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:02" }, { "id": "f4491498-30f8-4489-8fd5-259ac3166091", "slug": "that-one-most", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick/that-one-most", "text": "That one most perilous and long voyage ended, only begins a second; and a second ended, only begins a third, and so on, for ever and for aye. Such is the endlessness, yea, the intolerableness of all earthly effort.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "Moby-Dick", "slug": "moby-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 66, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#Wheelbarrow_(13)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:40" }, { "id": "b19b8ae0-f394-45cf-a5c6-ae6060f7294b", "slug": "for-small-erections", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick/for-small-erections", "text": "For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever completing anything.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "Moby-Dick", "slug": "moby-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 159, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perfection", "slug": "perfection", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perfection" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#Cetology_(32)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:40" }, { "id": "39c1308e-c9db-4b41-9383-c0dc206a9248", "slug": "nothing-tends-to-materialize", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexis-de-tocqueville/democracy-in-america/nothing-tends-to-materialize", "text": "Nothing tends to materialize man and to deprive his work of the faintest trace of mind more than the extreme division of labor.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alexis de Tocqueville", "slug": "alexis-de-tocqueville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexis-de-tocqueville" }, "book": { "title": "Democracy in America", "slug": "democracy-in-america", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexis-de-tocqueville/democracy-in-america" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville#Democracy_in_America,_Volume_I_(1835)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:38" }, { "id": "5f1cb789-2f46-4907-a7d9-896e598013cd", "slug": "i-followed-him", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/zodiac/i-followed-him", "text": "[I] followed him past all the smiling secretaries, the cheery bottle-washer pushing a cartload of glassware, the unresponsive Xerox repairman, the hale-and-hearty fellow executives, blah blah blah. Being in an office just makes my skin crawl. All that good cheer. All that fine wool, the processed air, the mediocre coffee, fluorescent tubes, lipstick, new-carpet smell, the same fucking xeroxed cartoons tacked on the walls. I wanted to shout: one Far Side on the door does not an interesting person make.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neal Stephenson", "slug": "neal-stephenson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson" }, "book": { "title": "Zodiac", "slug": "zodiac", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/zodiac" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 162, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neal_Stephenson#Zodiac_(1988)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:35" }, { "id": "40d30634-c46c-452a-8387-780908e68faa", "slug": "ive-noticed-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/ive-noticed-that", "text": "I've noticed that people who have never worked with steel have trouble seeing this—that the motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon. They associate metal with given shapes—pipes, rods, girders, tools, parts—all of them fixed and inviolable, and think of it as primarily physical. But a person who does machining or foundry work or forge work or welding sees \"steel\" as having no shape at all. Steel can be any shape you want if you are skilled enough, and any shape but the one you want if you are not.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert M. Pirsig", "slug": "robert-m-pirsig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig" }, "book": { "title": "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", "slug": "zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig#Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance_(1974)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:33" }, { "id": "29a0269b-dbd4-40e6-be30-b63b34a3cdac", "slug": "quality-tends-to-fan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/quality-tends-to-fan", "text": "Quality tends to fan out like waves. The Quality job he didn't think anyone was going to see is seen, and the person who sees it feels a little better because of it, and is likely to pass that feeling on to others, and in that way the Quality tends to keep on going.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert M. Pirsig", "slug": "robert-m-pirsig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig" }, "book": { "title": "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", "slug": "zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "quality", "slug": "quality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig#Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance_(1974)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:33" }, { "id": "d97c77d8-cc20-4b3c-974f-6d96b8a86cab", "slug": "in-mozambique-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact/in-mozambique-the", "text": "In Mozambique, the story goes, monkeys do not talk, because they know if they utter even a single word some man will come and put them to work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Carl Sagan", "slug": "carl-sagan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan" }, "book": { "title": "Contact", "slug": "contact", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 313, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "silence", "slug": "silence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/silence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#Contact_(1985)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:28" }, { "id": "2f4fa79c-982a-4e5f-8778-ba6e3703bb04", "slug": "its-the-job", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien/the-fellowship-of-the-ring/its-the-job", "text": "It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "J.R.R. Tolkien", "slug": "jrr-tolkien", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien" }, "book": { "title": "The Fellowship of the Ring", "slug": "the-fellowship-of-the-ring", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien/the-fellowship-of-the-ring" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring#The_Mirror_of_Galadriel", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:21" }, { "id": "e70ecea4-9ed9-40fb-99f5-dd0240712697", "slug": "no-race-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington/up-from-slavery/no-race-can", "text": "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Booker Washington", "slug": "booker-washington", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington" }, "book": { "title": "Up From Slavery", "slug": "up-from-slavery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington/up-from-slavery" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington#Up_From_Slavery_(1901)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:17" }, { "id": "cec314f7-0452-4367-b5f3-f9210515873a", "slug": "nothing-ever-comes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington/up-from-slavery/nothing-ever-comes", "text": "Nothing ever comes to me, that is worth having, except as the result of hard work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Booker Washington", "slug": "booker-washington", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington" }, "book": { "title": "Up From Slavery", "slug": "up-from-slavery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington/up-from-slavery" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington#Up_From_Slavery_(1901)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:17" }, { "id": "914d5cfb-2bf3-4ca4-a14c-01c0da566b62", "slug": "my-whole-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington/up-from-slavery/my-whole-life", "text": "My whole life has largely been one of surprises. I believe that any man's life will be filled with constant, unexpected encouragements of this kind if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day of his life — that is, tries to make each day reach as nearly as possible the high-water mark of pure, unselfish, useful living.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Booker Washington", "slug": "booker-washington", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington" }, "book": { "title": "Up From Slavery", "slug": "up-from-slavery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington/up-from-slavery" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington#Up_From_Slavery_(1901)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:17" }, { "id": "2c3c09ef-b6eb-40ca-a908-83e662cf9026", "slug": "no-man-who", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington/up-from-slavery/no-man-who", "text": "No man who continues to add something to the material, intellectual, and moral well-being of the place in which he lives is long left without proper reward.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Booker Washington", "slug": "booker-washington", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington" }, "book": { "title": "Up From Slavery", "slug": "up-from-slavery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/booker-washington/up-from-slavery" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington#Up_From_Slavery_(1901)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:17" }, { "id": "b34169be-f697-4c51-bf39-8c108e7f0ee0", "slug": "teach-me-my-god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple/teach-me-my-god", "text": "Teach me, my God and King,\n\nIn all things thee to see\n\nAnd what I do in any thing,\n\nTo do it as for thee.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Herbert", "slug": "george-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "The Temple", "slug": "the-temple", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "prayer", "slug": "prayer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/prayer" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Herbert#The_Temple_(1633)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:01" }, { "id": "54bf66c4-e719-4382-b5fc-7f64d6bb82bd", "slug": "a-servant-with", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple/a-servant-with", "text": "A servant with this clause\n\nMakes drudgery divine:\n\nWho sweeps a room, as for thy laws,\n\nMakes that and th' action fine.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Herbert", "slug": "george-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "The Temple", "slug": "the-temple", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Herbert#The_Temple_(1633)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:01" }, { "id": "5146566c-1ea2-417e-9429-fcec4aed271a", "slug": "it-occurred-to-me-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/naked/it-occurred-to-me-that", "text": "It occurred to me that everything we buy has been poked or packaged by some unfortunate nitwit with a hairnet and a wad of cotton stuffed into his ears. Every ear of corn, every chocolate-coated raisin or shoelace. Every barbeque tong, paper hat, and store-bought mitten arrives with a history of abject misery. Vegetarians look at a pork roast thinking about the animal. I'd now look at them wondering whose job it was to package the shallow Styrofoam trays.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Sedaris", "slug": "david-sedaris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris" }, "book": { "title": "Naked", "slug": "naked", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/naked" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 199, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "consumerism", "slug": "consumerism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consumerism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Sedaris#Naked_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:58" }, { "id": "8605cc4d-1b5e-46a1-a65a-6de25e666b02", "slug": "i-think-any", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/middlemarch/i-think-any", "text": "I think any hardship is better than pretending to do what one is paid for, and never really doing it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Eliot", "slug": "george-eliot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot" }, "book": { "title": "Middlemarch", "slug": "middlemarch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/middlemarch" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "integrity", "slug": "integrity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/integrity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot#Middlemarch_(1871-72)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:52" }, { "id": "3b30df3f-199d-46bf-84ec-f34fcbbdd20d", "slug": "he-seemed-to-weave", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/silas-marner/he-seemed-to-weave", "text": "He seemed to weave, like the spider, from pure impulse, without reflection. Every man's work, pursued steadily, tends in this way to become an end in itself, and so to bridge over the loveless chasms of his life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Eliot", "slug": "george-eliot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot" }, "book": { "title": "Silas Marner", "slug": "silas-marner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/silas-marner" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 16, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot#Silas_Marner:_The_Weaver_of_Raveloe_(1861)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:50" }, { "id": "6f1f1a77-7c4a-4739-9241-b7293606b580", "slug": "the-natur-o-things", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/adam-bede/the-natur-o-things", "text": "The natur o' things doesn't change, though it seems as if one's own life was nothing but change. The square o' four is sixteen, and you must lengthen your lever in proportion to your weight, is as true when a man's miserable as when he's happy; and the best o' working is, it gives you a grip hold o' things outside your own lot\".", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Eliot", "slug": "george-eliot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot" }, "book": { "title": "Adam Bede", "slug": "adam-bede", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/adam-bede" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "change", "slug": "change", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/change" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot#Adam_Bede_(1859)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:49" }, { "id": "70773f59-833c-4e6e-bed2-23b566a71ab1", "slug": "you-are-forgiven", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay/you-are-forgiven", "text": "You are forgiven everything provided you have a trade, a subtitle to your name, a seal on your nothingness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Emil Cioran", "slug": "emil-cioran", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran" }, "book": { "title": "A Short History of Decay", "slug": "a-short-history-of-decay", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emil_Cioran#A_Short_History_of_Decay_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:40" }, { "id": "bdb080d5-c0d2-4613-8308-fe9090833a2e", "slug": "the-notion-of-nothingness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay/the-notion-of-nothingness", "text": "The notion of nothingness is not characteristic of laboring humanity: those who toil have neither time nor inclination to weigh their dust; they resign themselves to the difficulties or the doltishness of fate; they hope: hope is a slave's virtue.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Emil Cioran", "slug": "emil-cioran", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran" }, "book": { "title": "A Short History of Decay", "slug": "a-short-history-of-decay", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "hope", "slug": "hope", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope" }, { "name": "nihilism", "slug": "nihilism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nihilism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emil_Cioran#A_Short_History_of_Decay_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:39" }, { "id": "d34ba474-265b-4e71-aa68-2efb02bd7bce", "slug": "i-would-rather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/i-would-rather", "text": "I would rather have him a shoemaker than a poet, I would rather he paved streets than painted flowers on china. \"But,\" you will say, \"policemen, spies, and hangmen are useful people.\" There would be no use for them if it were not for the government. But let that pass. I was wrong. It is not enough to choose an honest trade, it must be a trade which does not develop detestable qualities in the mind, qualities incompatible with humanity. To return to our original expression, \"Let us choose an honest trade,\" but let us remember there can be no honesty without usefulness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "integrity", "slug": "integrity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/integrity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "762e3711-b7f3-42fe-9b6c-567053277e6c", "slug": "he-must-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/he-must-work", "text": "He must work like a peasant and think like a philosopher, if he is not to be as idle as a savage. The great secret of education is to use exercise of mind and body as relaxation one to the other.\n\nAfter exercising his body and his senses you have exercised his mind and his judgment. Finally we have joined together the use of his limbs and his faculties. We have made him a worker and a thinker; we have now to make him loving and tender-hearted, to perfect reason through feeling.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "education", "slug": "education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/education" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "466f7427-5fbf-48d7-bca2-8b2451de387e", "slug": "let-us-keep", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/let-us-keep", "text": "Let us keep Emile's hands from money lest he should become an ass, let him take the work but not the wages. Never let his work be judged by any standard but that of the work of a master. Let it be judged as work, not because it is his. If anything is well done, I say, \"That is a good piece of work,\" but do not ask who did it. If he is pleased and proud and says, \"I did it,\" answer indifferently, \"No matter who did it, it is well done.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "upbringing", "slug": "upbringing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/upbringing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "2bdd7f6d-6c0c-45d8-b863-833314833db1", "slug": "all-things-considered", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/all-things-considered", "text": "All things considered, the trade I should choose for my pupil, among the trades he likes, is that of a carpenter. It is clean and useful; it may be carried on at home; it gives enough exercise; it calls for skill and industry, and while fashioning articles for everyday use, there is scope for elegance and taste. If your pupil's talents happened to take a scientific turn, I should not blame you if you gave him a trade in accordance with his tastes, for instance, he might learn to make mathematical instruments, glasses, telescopes, etc.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "25835c59-e23a-48d9-890f-680ad381436f", "slug": "every-substance-in-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/every-substance-in-nature", "text": "Every substance in nature and every work of man must be judged in relation to his own use, his own safety, his own preservation, his own comfort. Thus he should value iron far more than gold, and glass than diamonds; in the same way he has far more respect for a shoemaker or a mason than for a Lempereur, a Le Blanc, or all the jewellers in Europe. In his eyes a confectioner is a really great man, and he would give the whole academy of sciences for the smallest pastrycook in Lombard Street. Goldsmiths, engravers, gilders, and embroiderers, he considers lazy people, who play at quite useless games. He does not even think much of a clockmaker.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "1de84b42-1387-4f1d-af4b-bfb43b9c0037", "slug": "learning-a-trade", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/learning-a-trade", "text": "Learning a trade matters less than overcoming the prejudices he despises. You will never be reduced to earning your livelihood; so much the worse for you. No matter; work for honour, not for need: stoop to the position of a working man, to rise above your own. To conquer Fortune and everything else, begin by independence. To rule through public opinion, begin by ruling over it. Remember I demand no talent, only a trade, a genuine trade, a mere mechanical art, in which the hands work harder than the head, a trade which does not lead to fortune but makes you independent of her.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "independence", "slug": "independence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/independence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "15cc75e8-1588-4b6f-9982-62212e20474d", "slug": "yet-agriculture-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/yet-agriculture-is-the", "text": "Yet agriculture is the earliest, the most honest of trades, and more useful than all the rest, and therefore more honourable for those who practise it. I do not say to Emile, \"Study agriculture,\" he is already familiar with it. He is acquainted with every kind of rural labour, it was his first occupation, and he returns to it continually. So I say to him, \"Cultivate your father's lands, but if you lose this inheritance, or if you have none to lose, what will you do? Learn a trade.\" \"A trade for my son! My son a working man! What are you thinking of, sir?\" Madam, my thoughts are wiser than yours; you want to make him fit for nothing but a lord, a marquis, or a prince; and some day he may be less than nothing. I want to give him a rank which he cannot lose, a rank which will always do him honour; I want to raise him to the status of a man, and, whatever you may say, he will have fewer equals in that rank than in your own.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "141e59b5-9441-4993-b1da-6e9a9b8ef158", "slug": "when-emile-learns", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/when-emile-learns", "text": "When Emile learns his trade I shall learn it too. I am convinced he will never learn anything thoroughly unless we learn it together. So we shall both serve our apprenticeship, and we do not mean to be treated as gentlemen, but as real apprentices who are not there for fun; why should not we actually be apprenticed? Peter the Great was a ship's carpenter and drummer to his own troops; was not that prince at least your equal in birth and merit? You understand this is addressed not to Emile but to you—to you, whoever you may be.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "teachers", "slug": "teachers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/teachers" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "bd583d8d-7563-4cec-947e-50af9abf99e5", "slug": "i-thought-i-should", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-razors-edge/i-thought-i-should", "text": "I thought I should be a fool to allow work to interfere with a delight in the passing moment that I might never enjoy again so fully.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "The Razor's Edge", "slug": "the-razors-edge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-razors-edge" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "the present moment", "slug": "the-present-moment", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present-moment" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#The_Razor's_Edge_(1943)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:28" }, { "id": "2b70c823-4e93-4e86-aa00-5261744c50f7", "slug": "she-was-making", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-moon-and-sixpence/she-was-making", "text": "She was making money. But she could not get over the idea that to earn her living was somewhat undignified, and she was inclined to remind you that she was a lady by birth.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "The Moon And Sixpence", "slug": "the-moon-and-sixpence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-moon-and-sixpence" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 63, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#The_Moon_and_Sixpence_(1919)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:26" }, { "id": "77b4906e-fa15-480f-bebb-1e914cb5152f", "slug": "seek-therefore-thyself", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno/tragic-sense-of-life/seek-therefore-thyself", "text": "Seek, therefore, thyself! But in finding oneself, does not one find one's own nothingness? ...Carlyle answers (Past and Present, book iii, chap. xi.). \"The latest Gospel in the world is, Know thy work and do it. Know thyself: long enough has that poor self of thine tormented thee; thou wilt never get to know it, I believe! Think it thy business, this of knowing thyself; thou art an unknowable individual: know what thou canst work at; and work at it, like Hercules. That will be thine better plan.\" …and what is my work? — without thinking about myself, is to love God. ...And on the other hand, in loving God in myself, am I not loving myself more than God, am I not loving myself in God?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Miguel de Unamuno", "slug": "miguel-de-unamuno", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno" }, "book": { "title": "Tragic Sense of Life", "slug": "tragic-sense-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno/tragic-sense-of-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "self-knowledge", "slug": "self-knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-knowledge" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Unamuno#X_:_Religion,_the_Mythology_of_the_Beyond_and_the_Apocatastasis", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:23" }, { "id": "a0d35937-3c5a-4158-9344-e4fe7bace7df", "slug": "from-the-moment", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four/from-the-moment", "text": "From the moment when the machine first made its appearance it was clear to all thinking people that the need for human drudgery, and therefore to a great extent human inequality, had disappeared.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Nineteen Eighty-Four", "slug": "nineteen-eighty-four", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Chapter_9", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:14" }, { "id": "23259d0e-bf6a-418c-8725-86da17fe16d4", "slug": "winstons-greatest-pleasure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four/winstons-greatest-pleasure", "text": "Winston's greatest pleasure in life was in his work. Most of it was a tedious routine, but included in it there were also jobs so difficult and intricate that you could lose yourself in them as in the depths of a mathematical problem — delicate pieces of forgery in which you had nothing to guide you except your knowledge of the principles of Ingsoc and your estimate of what the Party wanted you to say. Winston was good at this kind of thing. On occasion he had even been entrusted with the rectification of The Times leading articles, which were written entirely in Newspeak.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Nineteen Eighty-Four", "slug": "nineteen-eighty-four", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Chapter_4", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:12" }, { "id": "569bec41-fdd8-4f1b-a3b8-135125756899", "slug": "it-was-queer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/keep-the-aspidistra-flying/it-was-queer", "text": "It was queer. All over England young men were eating their hearts out for lack of jobs, and here was he, Gordon, to whom the very word 'job' was faintly nauseous, having jobs thrust unwanted upon him. It was an example of the fact that you can get anything in this world if you genuinely don't want it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Keep the Aspidistra Flying", "slug": "keep-the-aspidistra-flying", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/keep-the-aspidistra-flying" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Orwell#Keep_the_Aspidistra_Flying_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:10" }, { "id": "eed7b335-06aa-4656-92dc-28797975bca8", "slug": "beggars-do-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london/beggars-do-not", "text": "Beggars do not work, it is said; but then, what is work? A navvy works by swinging a pick. An accountant works by adding up figures. A beggar works by standing out of doors in all weathers and getting varicose veins, bronchitis etc. It is a trade like any other; quite useless, of course — but, then, many reputable trades are quite useless. And as a social type a beggar compares well with scores of others. He is honest compared with the sellers of most patent medicines, high-minded compared with a Sunday newspaper proprietor, amiable compared with a hire-purchase tout-in short, a parasite, but a fairly harmless parasite. He seldom extracts more than a bare living from the community, and, what should justify him according to our ethical ideas, he pays for it over and over in suffering.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Down and Out in Paris and London", "slug": "down-and-out-in-paris-and-london", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Orwell#Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London_(1933)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:09" }, { "id": "271f22dd-3d2f-400d-ab28-5cb57c052091", "slug": "but-life-is-a-cheap", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/islands-in-the-stream/but-life-is-a-cheap", "text": "But life is a cheap thing beside a man's work. The only thing is that you need it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Islands in the Stream", "slug": "islands-in-the-stream", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/islands-in-the-stream" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Islands_in_the_Stream_(1970)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:08" }, { "id": "ba56f07e-b6cd-4bc0-abad-d4e0c938deed", "slug": "the-work-under", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost/the-work-under", "text": "The work under our labour grows,\n\nLuxurious by restraint.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Milton", "slug": "john-milton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton" }, "book": { "title": "Paradise Lost", "slug": "paradise-lost", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost#Book_IX", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:48" }, { "id": "e9063d21-d521-4acf-9e08-0e58c65fdaea", "slug": "toiling-rejoicing-sorrowing-onward-through", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-village-blacksmith/toiling-rejoicing-sorrowing-onward-through", "text": "Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,\n\nOnward through life he goes;\n\nEach morning sees some task begin,\n\nEach evening sees it close;\n\nSomething attempted, something done,\n\nHas earned a night's repose.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", "slug": "henry-wadsworth-longfellow", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-wadsworth-longfellow" }, "book": { "title": "The Village Blacksmith", "slug": "the-village-blacksmith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-village-blacksmith" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow#The_Village_Blacksmith", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:44" }, { "id": "62a178ef-dbcf-478e-a114-b5a23b5a6e30", "slug": "his-brow-is-wet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-village-blacksmith/his-brow-is-wet", "text": "His brow is wet with honest sweat,\n\nHe earns whate'er he can,\n\nAnd looks the whole world in the face,\n\nFor he owes not any man.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", "slug": "henry-wadsworth-longfellow", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-wadsworth-longfellow" }, "book": { "title": "The Village Blacksmith", "slug": "the-village-blacksmith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-village-blacksmith" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow#The_Village_Blacksmith", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:44" }, { "id": "1d66e630-9620-4cd1-881d-a8f9f530c980", "slug": "to-an-active", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon/the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire/to-an-active", "text": "To an active mind, indolence is more painful than labor ...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edward Gibbon", "slug": "edward-gibbon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon" }, "book": { "title": "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", "slug": "the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon/the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_Gibbon#The_History_of_the_Decline_And_Fall_Of_The_Roman_Empire_(1776%E2%80%931788)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:43" }, { "id": "b1ff321a-503f-4f5b-b97d-1f76086456f2", "slug": "what-we-really", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton/heretics/what-we-really", "text": "What we really desire of any man conducting any business is that the full force of an ordinary man should be put into that particular study. We do not desire that the full force of that study should be put into an ordinary man.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "G. Chesterton", "slug": "g-chesterton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton" }, "book": { "title": "Heretics", "slug": "heretics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton/heretics" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "mediocrity", "slug": "mediocrity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mediocrity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heretics_(book)#Chapter_XVII:_%22On_the_Wit_of_Whistler%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:35" }, { "id": "5752b009-72c8-4fd4-b071-2dc3bb0d30ce", "slug": "he-had-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/equal-rites/he-had-the", "text": "He had the kind of real deep tan that rich people spend ages trying to achieve with expensive holidays and bits of tinfoil, when really all you need to do to obtain one is work your arse off in the open air every day.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Equal Rites", "slug": "equal-rites", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/equal-rites" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Equal_Rites#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:27" }, { "id": "0677d2ac-13af-4802-b2e4-83b86fd127be", "slug": "this-this-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/forward-the-foundation/this-this-was", "text": "This - this - was my life's work. My past - humanity's future. Foundation. So beatiful. So alive. And nothing can...Dors!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Isaac Asimov", "slug": "isaac-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov" }, "book": { "title": "Forward the Foundation", "slug": "forward-the-foundation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/forward-the-foundation" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#Forward_the_Foundation_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:23" }, { "id": "91766b38-f9b5-45f8-8f04-7a3528a5a53e", "slug": "the-unwritten-motto", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-robot/the-unwritten-motto", "text": "The unwritten motto of United States Robot and Mechanical Men Corp. was well-known: “No employee makes the same mistake twice. He is fired the first time.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Isaac Asimov", "slug": "isaac-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov" }, "book": { "title": "I, Robot", "slug": "i-robot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-robot" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 65, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "mistakes", "slug": "mistakes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mistakes" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#I,_Robot_(1950)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:18" }, { "id": "22102534-8688-426a-842a-678cab181e1b", "slug": "ive-just-had", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/3001-the-final-odyssey/ive-just-had", "text": "I've just had an amusing flashback. All these creatures going in the same direction - they look like the commuters who used to surge back and forth twice a day between home and office, before electronics made it unnecessary. p.29", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur C. Clarke", "slug": "arthur-c-clarke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke" }, "book": { "title": "3001 The Final Odyssey", "slug": "3001-the-final-odyssey", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/3001-the-final-odyssey" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke#3001:_The_Final_Odyssey_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:16" }, { "id": "8b08f570-c879-454a-9bcb-2a6367cec4f3", "slug": "long-ago-he-had", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/the-fountains-of-paradise/long-ago-he-had", "text": "Long ago, he had made that choice between work and life that can seldom be avoided at the highest levels of human endeavor ... Any fool could shuffle genes, and most did. But whether or not history gave him credit, few men could have achieved what he had done — and was about to do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur C. Clarke", "slug": "arthur-c-clarke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke" }, "book": { "title": "The Fountains Of Paradise", "slug": "the-fountains-of-paradise", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/the-fountains-of-paradise" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 208, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke#The_Fountains_of_Paradise_(1979)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:15" }, { "id": "4b629aae-7faa-4a0b-b0ce-635baeb68732", "slug": "i-suppose-i-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/andy-warhol/the-philosophy-of-andy-warhol/i-suppose-i-have", "text": "I suppose I have a really loose interpretation of \"work\" because I think that just being alive is so much work at something you don't always want to do. Being born is like being kidnapped. And then sold into slavery. People are working every minute. The machinery is always going. Even when you sleep.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Andy Warhol", "slug": "andy-warhol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/andy-warhol" }, "book": { "title": "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol", "slug": "the-philosophy-of-andy-warhol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/andy-warhol/the-philosophy-of-andy-warhol" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol#The_Philosophy_of_Andy_Warhol_(1975)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:12" }, { "id": "ec2a913f-9e67-46d2-a4ff-6caef40cd093", "slug": "they-poor-devils", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emile-zola/germinal/they-poor-devils", "text": "They, poor devils, were just machine-fodder, they were penned like cattle in housing-estates, the big Companies were gradually dominating their whole lives, regulating slavery, threatening to enlist all the nation’s workers, millions of hands to increase the wealth of a thousand idlers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Emile Zola", "slug": "emile-zola", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emile-zola" }, "book": { "title": "Germinal", "slug": "germinal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emile-zola/germinal" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Zola#Germinal_(1885)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:11" }, { "id": "0d828c2d-15bc-4c8b-b947-0aea27682595", "slug": "there-lay-certitude", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-plague/there-lay-certitude", "text": "There lay certitude; there, in the daily round. All the rest hung on mere threads and trivial contingencies; you couldn't waste your time on it. The thing was to do your job as it should be done.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Albert Camus", "slug": "albert-camus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus" }, "book": { "title": "The Plague", "slug": "the-plague", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-plague" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "responsibility", "slug": "responsibility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus#The_Plague_(1947)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:56" }, { "id": "d296f97e-a149-4fb8-bcb8-683b337dacec", "slug": "organizations-like-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-a-michener/poland/organizations-like-the", "text": "...organizations like the church or General Motors promote a man up and up until he reaches a spot which he is obviously incapable of filling, and there they lay him to rest.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James A. Michener", "slug": "james-a-michener", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-a-michener" }, "book": { "title": "Poland", "slug": "poland", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-a-michener/poland" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 587, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_A._Michener#Poland_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:54" }, { "id": "88b57c82-4245-4f4a-9a07-eae8b1130415", "slug": "our-labour-preserves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide/our-labour-preserves", "text": "Our labour preserves us from three great evils -- weariness, vice, and want.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Voltaire", "slug": "voltaire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire" }, "book": { "title": "Candide", "slug": "candide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire#Candide_(1759)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:54" }, { "id": "1043b958-1ae4-4bcd-b425-b689d4bf89c9", "slug": "let-us-cultivate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide/let-us-cultivate", "text": "Let us cultivate our garden.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Voltaire", "slug": "voltaire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire" }, "book": { "title": "Candide", "slug": "candide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire#Candide_(1759)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:54" }, { "id": "0f4e6b81-7a21-4203-9caf-431078c53887", "slug": "let-us-work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide/let-us-work", "text": "\"Let us work without reasoning,\" said Martin; \"it is the only way to make life endurable.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Voltaire", "slug": "voltaire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire" }, "book": { "title": "Candide", "slug": "candide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire#Candide_(1759)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:54" }, { "id": "d3bf1998-77f6-4842-964e-4cbf3bb8323d", "slug": "thus-while-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karl-marx/the-german-ideology/thus-while-the", "text": "Thus, while the refugee serfs only wished to be free to develop and assert those conditions of existence which were already there, and hence, in the end, only arrived at free labour, the proletarians, if they are to assert themselves as individuals, will have to abolish the very condition of their existence hitherto (which has, moreover, been that of all society up to the present), namely, labour. Thus they find themselves directly opposed to the form in which, hitherto, the individuals, of which society consists, have given themselves collective expression, that is, the State. In order, therefore, to assert themselves as individuals, they must overthrow the State.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Karl Marx", "slug": "karl-marx", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karl-marx" }, "book": { "title": "The German Ideology", "slug": "the-german-ideology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karl-marx/the-german-ideology" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Marx#The_German_Ideology_(1845-1846)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:49" }, { "id": "4af80259-328c-4589-9b6a-c32affc32434", "slug": "for-as-soon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karl-marx/the-german-ideology/for-as-soon", "text": "For as soon as the distribution of labour comes into being, each man has a particular exclusive sphere of activity, which is forced upon him and from which he cannot escape. He is a hunter, a fisherman, a shepherd, or a critical critic and must remain so if he does not wish to lose his means of livelihood; while in communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, to fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have in mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Karl Marx", "slug": "karl-marx", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karl-marx" }, "book": { "title": "The German Ideology", "slug": "the-german-ideology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karl-marx/the-german-ideology" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Marx#The_German_Ideology_(1845-1846)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:48" }, { "id": "ce182260-f3f4-4746-a1a2-49fe43267ff0", "slug": "work-consists-of-whatever", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer/work-consists-of-whatever", "text": "Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and...Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mark Twain", "slug": "mark-twain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain" }, "book": { "title": "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "slug": "the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 32, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer_(1876)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:45" }, { "id": "b21f3329-1bd0-4d1c-a795-03a9c22757e0", "slug": "if-he-had", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer/if-he-had", "text": "If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mark Twain", "slug": "mark-twain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain" }, "book": { "title": "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "slug": "the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 32, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:45" }, { "id": "72f1e4b0-7989-4104-9c5c-4391ca9d236a", "slug": "tom-appeared-on-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer/tom-appeared-on-the", "text": "Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mark Twain", "slug": "mark-twain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain" }, "book": { "title": "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "slug": "the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "sadness", "slug": "sadness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sadness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer_(1876)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:45" }, { "id": "d4899c24-570d-488b-8fc4-baf62f32c1a9", "slug": "in-hiroshima-a-bellman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dave-barry/dave-barry-does-japan/in-hiroshima-a-bellman", "text": "In Hiroshima, a bellman arrived at our room, literally, within one minute. He had obviously been sprinting, and he looked concerned. He checked the faucet, found it was, indeed, malfunctioning, and- now looking extremely- concerned- sprinted from the room. In no more than three minutes he was back with two more men, one of whom immediately went to work on the bathtub. The sole function of the other one, as far as we could tell, was to apologize to us on behalf of the hotel for having committed this monumentally embarrassing and totally unforgivable blunder. \"We are very sorry,\" he kept saying, looking as though near tears. \"Very sorry.\" \"It's OK!\" I kept saying. \"Really!\" But it did no good. The man was grieving. The bathtub was fixed in under ten minutes, after which all three men apologized extravagantly in various languages one last time, after which they left, after which I imagine the hotel's Vice President for Faucet Operations was taken outside and shot. No, just kidding. He probably took his own life. That's how seriously they take their jobs over there.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dave Barry", "slug": "dave-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dave-barry" }, "book": { "title": "Dave Barry Does Japan", "slug": "dave-barry-does-japan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dave-barry/dave-barry-does-japan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 48, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dave_Barry#Dave_Barry_Does_Japan_(1992)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:39" }, { "id": "95688e09-2807-42d1-9f60-67fab4c4411d", "slug": "hey-listen-ive", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/woody-allen/side-effects/hey-listen-ive", "text": "Hey listen — I've proved a lot of things. That's how I pay my rent. Theories and little observations. A puckish remark now and then. Occasional maxims. It beats picking olives, but let's not get carried away.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Woody Allen", "slug": "woody-allen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/woody-allen" }, "book": { "title": "Side Effects", "slug": "side-effects", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/woody-allen/side-effects" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Woody_Allen#My_Apology", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:35" }, { "id": "0b3a79c3-e186-4c4d-bb53-b2659a6fc0e2", "slug": "all-professions-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-bernard-shaw/the-doctors-dilemma/all-professions-are", "text": "All professions are conspiracies against the laity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Bernard Shaw", "slug": "george-bernard-shaw", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-bernard-shaw" }, "book": { "title": "The Doctor's Dilemma", "slug": "the-doctors-dilemma", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-bernard-shaw/the-doctors-dilemma" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw#The_Doctor's_Dilemma_(1911)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:36" }, { "id": "a22cd0a9-3bad-4b9a-a21c-5cc45cf842ae", "slug": "these-are-mere", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-tale-of-two-cities/these-are-mere", "text": "These are mere business relations, miss; there is no friendship in them, no particular interest, nothing like sentiment. I have passed from one to another, in the course of my business life, just as I pass from one of our customers to another in the course of my business day; in short, I have no feelings; I am a mere machine. To go on...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Tale of Two Cities", "slug": "a-tale-of-two-cities", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-tale-of-two-cities" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "relationships", "slug": "relationships", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/relationships" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities#Chapter_IV_-_The_Preparation", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:32" }, { "id": "389109f4-4f33-44ee-b5d9-cd5ea1ef13e0", "slug": "feelings-i-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-tale-of-two-cities/feelings-i-have", "text": "Feelings! I have no time for them, no chance of them. I pass my whole life, miss, in turning an immense pecuniary Mangle.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Tale of Two Cities", "slug": "a-tale-of-two-cities", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-tale-of-two-cities" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities#Chapter_IV_-_The_Preparation", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:32" }, { "id": "91502244-f5d4-4f30-aaae-25b6fe555fd6", "slug": "all-through-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/animal-farm/all-through-that", "text": "All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were happy as they had never conceived it possible to be. Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging master. With the worthless parasitical human beings gone, there was more for everyone to eat.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Animal Farm", "slug": "animal-farm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/animal-farm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Animal_Farm#Chapter_3", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:30" }, { "id": "62ca669e-c393-4169-8d08-f5a53b3b4c79", "slug": "boxer-was-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/animal-farm/boxer-was-the", "text": "Boxer was the admiration of everybody. He had been a hard worker even in Jones's time, but now he seemed more like three horses than one; there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest on his mighty shoulders. From morning to night he was pushing and pulling, always at the spot where the work was hardest. He had made an arrangement with one of the cockerels to call him in the mornings half an hour earlier than anyone else, and would put in some volunteer labour at whatever seemed to be most needed, before the regular day's work began. His answer to every problem, every setback, was \"I will work harder!\"—which he had adopted as his personal motto.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Animal Farm", "slug": "animal-farm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/animal-farm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Animal_Farm#Chapter_3", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:30" }, { "id": "462d4679-adb8-4a3a-85a0-7b8bee80203b", "slug": "man-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/animal-farm/man-is-the", "text": "Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself. Our labour tills the soil, our dung fertilises it, and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Animal Farm", "slug": "animal-farm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/animal-farm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Animal_Farm#Chapter_1", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:30" }, { "id": "0989d778-635d-427d-bdf9-cd6a09dccfdf", "slug": "all-that-year", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/animal-farm/all-that-year", "text": "All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Animal Farm", "slug": "animal-farm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/animal-farm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Animal_Farm#Chapter_6", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:30" } ] }