Ingenuity, Courage, and Hard Work Lead to Results - Bette Davis

Doing the work is the only way to find out if the work is worth doing. — Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O’Connor’s line turns a common assumption upside down: we often think we must know a task’s value before we begin, yet she argues the opposite. The worth of serious work is rarely visible from a distance.

A man at work, making something which he feels will exist because he is working at it and wills it, is exercising the energies of his mind and soul as well as of his body. — William Morris

William Morris

At its core, William Morris presents work not as drudgery but as an act of creation. A person who makes something with the conviction that it will endure is doing more than completing a task; he is shaping reality throug...

Whatever the job you are asked to do at whatever level, do a good job because your reputation is your resume. — Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright’s remark turns attention away from titles and toward conduct. Her point is simple but demanding: no matter how small the assignment or how modest the position, the quality of your effort becomes a publ...

Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance? — Edward Bergen

Edward Bergen

At first glance, Edward Bergen’s line sounds like a lazy person’s excuse, yet its charm lies in the deadpan reversal. He begins with a familiar moral lesson—hard work is harmless and virtuous—then instantly undercuts it...

Whatever you do, you have to master your craft. If it's flipping hamburgers at McDonald's, be the best hamburger flipper in the world. — Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg’s quote begins with a democratic idea: the value of work does not depend on prestige, but on the care brought to it. Whether the task is glamorous or routine, he argues that mastery transforms it into somethin...

Work is a wonderful thing, but it is not the meaning of life. The meaning of life is life itself. — Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton’s statement begins by granting work its dignity while refusing to let it dominate human existence. In saying that work is ‘a wonderful thing,’ she acknowledges the satisfaction, structure, and creativity la...