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Work Quotes

    “Simplifying the externals allows us to cultivate a rich inner and outer life.  A cluttered existence may keep us busy, but busyness doesn’t mean that we are fully engaged in what we are going.  Usually, just the opposite, we feel busy because we are neurotically active at things that don’t matter much in the long run.  It does little good to be successful in a business that requires sixty hours of work a week, while the simple pleasures of home life are neglected.  A complicated person can simplify life and in that simplicity find a sharp articulation of values.  Complicated lives often do the opposite: they show to what extent the person is lost in the busyness of the world.”

    Thomas Moore, Original Self | ★ Featured on this book list.

      “The passionate worker doesn’t show up because she’s afraid of getting in trouble; she shows up because it’s a hobby that pays.  The passionate worker is busy blogging on vacation, because posting that thought and seeing the feedback it generates is actually more fun than sitting on the beach for another hour.  The passionate worker tweaks a site design after dinner because, hey, it’s a lot more fun than watching TV.”

      Seth Godin, Whatcha Gonna Do With That Duck?

        “Do not think of work – any work – as a duty.  If it is a duty, it will become a burden.  How do you turn a burden into a pleasure?  Live respectfully, correctly, positively, and boldly.” ~ Tempu Nakamura, Budo Secrets

          “Love is a form of work or a form of courage.  Specifically, it is work or courage directed toward the nurture of our own or another’s spiritual growth.  We may work or exert courage in directions other than toward spiritual growth, and for this reason all work and all courage is not love.  But since it requires the extension of ourselves, love is always either work or courage.  If an act is not an of work or courage, then it is not an act of love.  There are no exceptions.” ~ Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

            “To organize life’s energies around anything less sublime than our true nature is to still be split – separated from Self.  No matter how much focus we may bring to any task, if the task is not our real vocation we will still be haunted by the suffering of doubt, and the internal agony of division.”

            Stephen Cope, The Great Work Of Your Life

              “Our work can be motivated by obligation, by hunger for the external rewards of accomplishment, or by strongly reinforced ideas about who we should be in this lifetime.  But none of these motivations has the authentic energy required for mastery of a profession.”

              Stephen Cope, The Great Work Of Your Life

                “The opposite of play is not work – the opposite of play is depression.  Respecting our biologically programmed need for play can transform work.  It can bring back excitement and newness to our job.  Play helps us deal with difficulties, provides a sense of expansiveness, promotes mastery of our craft, and is an essential part of the creative process.  Most important, true play that comes from our own inner needs and desires is the only path to finding lasting joy and satisfaction in our work.  In the long run, work does not work without play.” ~ Dr. Stuart Brown

                  “Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished?  Yes; work never begun.” ~ Christina Rossetti

                    “The amateur has a long list of fears.  Near the top are two: Solitude and silence.  The amateur fears solitude and silence because she needs to avoid, at all costs, the voice inside her head that would point her toward her calling and her destiny.  So she seeks distraction.  The amateur prizes shallowness and shuns depth.  The culture of Twitter and Facebook is paradise for the amateur.” ~ Steven Pressfield, Turning Pro

                      “Are you paralyzed with fear?  That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” ~ Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

                        “If you want to make a masterpiece, you have to be willing to create a little garbage along the way.” ~ James Clear, Blog

                          “To play so as to be relaxed and refreshed for work is not to play, and no work is well and finely done unless it, too, is a form of play.” ~ Alan Watts, The Book

                            “It is difficult to feel accomplished when you’re not accomplishing something that matters to you. Doing something ‘for your own good’ is rarely for your own good if it causes you to be less than who you really are.” ~ Ken Robinson, The Element