W. H. Auden Quotes

It is right and necessary that all men should have work to do which shall he worth doing, and be of itself pleasant to do … Nothing should be made by man's labor which is not worth making; or which must be made by labor degrading to the makers

We say, pay talent well and genius generously, but pay well also the arm that toils; pay the needle, the saw, the spade, the hoe, the mop.

He who labors with his mind rules over he who labors with his hand

One of the most important topics I think for us all to work on is job creation.

I want to provide jobs for people.

Some jobs pay better, some jobs smell better, and some jobs have no business being treated like careers. But work is never the enemy, regardless of the wage. Because somewhere between the job and the paycheck, there’s still a thing called opportunity, and that’s what people need to pursue.

Jobs are a part of life. Maybe you've heard of the concept. It's called work? See, what happens is that you suffer through doing annoying and humiliating things until you get paid not enough money. Like those Japanese game shows, only without all the glory.

The number one job facing the middle class. And it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: Jobs. J-O-B-S.

I don't want to be a Hollywood star. I just want to do my job and enjoy it. My aim is to find my true identity and to remain true to myself.

Are you doing work worth doing, or are you just doing your job?

A job is a job. And I like to work.

One only "right" we have to assert in common with mankind--and that is as much in our hands as theirs--is the right of having something to do.

I don't ever want an acting to be a job. I want this to be an outlet for my creativity, and something I just simply enjoy doing. I don't ever want it to become something too serious.

I think every person should be able to enjoy life. Try to decide what you most enjoy doing, and then look around to see if there is a job for which you could prepare yourself that would enable you to continue having this sort of joy.

Intellectual ''work'' is misnamed; it is a pleasure, a dissipation, and is its own highest reward.

You never answered my question, about what you want to do with your life. Maybe my dreams aren't that complicated. Maybe I think that a job is just a job. What does that mean? Maybe I don't want to be defined by what I do. Maybe I'd like to be defined by what I am.

Graduates, your values matter. They are your north star. And work takes on new meaning when you feel you're pointed in the right direction. Otherwise, it's just a job. And life is too short for that.

Writing helped to have jobs that involved running around, pushing things like dish carts and wheelbarrows. It would be hard to sit at a desk all day, and then come to sit at another desk. Also, it helps to abandon hope. If I sit at my computer, determined to write a New Yorker story I won't get beyond the first sentence. It's better to put no pressure on it. What would happen if I followed the previous sentence with this one, I'll think. If the eighth draft is torture, the first should be fun. At least if you're writing humor.

To me, it's not work. When I draw and I write, I find it relaxing. It's not like 9-to-5, where a man goes to a job and he isn't really interested in the job. Luckily, I get paid for doing what I'd do for nothing.

My job is to go out and entertain the most people possible. The job is to make people laugh. I don't have a mission. I don't have a torch to burn.

When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid.

I always say, thank god I have this job or I don't know what I'd be doing. It'd be sad. I've always felt like I have been trying to brand a world for a quite a long time. You know what though, I feel no different. I feel like I'm doing the exact same thing I did in high school. Only I have more people helping me out now. And we have to take it all the way.

I never knew anybody who was unhappy with their job and was happy with their life. It's your sense of purpose. Now, some people can find it elsewhere. Some people can work a job and find it some place else.

Sage,” Adrian declared. “These hands don’t do manual labor.

I love my job very much, and I don't think I would change it. In fact, I know I wouldn't, because I can't do anything else.