“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
Book of Genesis, 1611 · Hebrew scripture, King James Version
Chapter 1
On Work
“Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a disgrace.”
Hesiod, c. 700 BC · Greek farmer poet, writing to his brother Perses
“In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.”
Book of Proverbs, 1611 · Hebrew wisdom literature, King James Version
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave.”
Ecclesiastes, 1611 · Hebrew wisdom literature, King James Version
“I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist?”
Marcus Aurelius, c. 180 AD · Roman emperor and Stoic, writing privately on campaign
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.”
Book of Genesis, 1611 · Hebrew scripture, King James Version
“All work, even cotton-spinning, is noble; work is alone noble.”
Thomas Carlyle, 1843 · Scottish essayist writing during Britain's industrial upheaval
“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.”
Charlotte Bronte, 1847 · English novelist, writing as Jane Eyre
“Get work, get work; be sure 'tis better than what you work to get.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1856 · English poet, in her verse novel of a woman earning her own living
Asked what to look for in a job, people who had already finished long working lives named autonomy first, the freedom to decide how the work gets done, ahead of pay or title.
Cornell Legacy Project cohort, 2011 · more than 1,500 Americans in their seventies and beyond, interviewed on work and career
“You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.”
Kahlil Gibran, 1923 · Lebanese American poet and painter
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