James McBride Quotes

Life is more important than work.

I was never really a career woman. My life always came first.

Actually I'm writing as best I can, in order to keep the momentum and the career there, but I want to live.

My parents have always said, 'You'll be so unhappy if you're no more than your career, that it's important to get out there and do things other than just your career.'

I used to be a classic workaholic, and after seeing how little work and career really mean when you reach the end of your life, I put a new emphasis on things I believe count more. These things include: family, friends, being part of a community, and appreciating the little joys of the average day.

Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more of an effect on economic well-being than any other single factor.

I don't really consider myself one of those actors who takes his work home with him.

My work is not my life. I started writing quite late, I didn't have that 'writing is everything, my art is all.' You have to be able to recognise the difference between the two.

I'm starting to judge success by the time I have for myself, the time I spend with family and friends. My priorities aren't amending; they're shifting.

No one on his deathbed ever said, I wish I had spent more time on my business.

It's all about quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family.

Life is all about balance. My work is very important to me, but so are my relationships. I make time for that aspect of my life, and it makes me happy having balance in my life.

You have to have something in your life that's more important than the work. People don't really like to admit that. They say, 'Oh, my work is my most important thing.'

You have one life, and it can't be just about work because you lose out on so many amazing years of your life if you just work, work, and work.

Life is #1 on the agenda, and #2 is work.

I like a well-rounded life. All of this work is kind of useless if you don't have something good to come home to.

Life comes before the business.

I've got a very full life beyond my career.

There are many things that I value, and many of them have nothing to do with my salary.

I don't think you should want everything at work, because home life is so important, and much more nourishing for your soul. One day work will end.

Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first.

Do not get so concerned with making a living that you forget to make a life.

As we got more interested in time management and productivity, we lost the individual, and with that individual loss, we lost happiness as well. So I think the world has actually been malnourished as we've focused so much on productivity and ignored happiness and meaning to our own detriment.

I'd rather work to live than live to work.

We need to accept that consumption is not the end goal of our life and stop measuring our well-being simply on the basis of earnings. We need to explicitly take the quality of our work-related life into account in judging our well-being.