A date is a job interview that lasts all night. The only difference between a date and a job interview is that there are not many job interviews where there’s a chance you’ll end up naked at the end of it.
—Jerry Seinfeld (b.1954) American Comedian
Monday is a lame way to spend 1/7 of your life.
—Unknown
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
I have discovered that I cannot enhance anybody’s performance without getting them not only to live with the butterflies that come with high-pressure jobs but to embrace that kind of physical response, enjoy it, get into it. That’s the first real ticket to being a performer who thinks exceptionally.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
Professionalism: It’s not the job you do, It’s how you do the job.
—Indian Proverb
Being a housewife and a mother is the biggest job in the world, but if it doesn’t interest you, don’t do it – I would have made a terrible mother.
—Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) American Actor, TV Personality
If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
—Common Proverb
My job is never work—the only time it seems like work is when I’d rather be doing something else.
—Unknown
The job of the poet is to render the world—to see it and report it without loss, without perversion. No poet ever talks about feelings. Only sentimental people do.
—Mark Van Doren (1894–1972) American Poet, Writer, Critic
Two can live as cheaply as one – if they both have good jobs.
—Laurence J. Peter (1919–90) Canadian-born American Educator, Author
Whatever the job you are asked to do at whatever level, do a good job because your reputation is your resume.
—Madeleine Albright (1937–97) Czech-born American Diplomat
Here is the answer which I will give to President Roosevelt. Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
I received a letter from a lad asking me for an easy berth. To this I replied: You cannot be an editor; do not try the law; do not think of the ministry; let alone all ships and merchandise; abhor politics; don’t practice medicine; be not a farmer or a soldier or a sailor; don’t study, don’t think. None of these are easy. O, my son, you have come into a hard world. I know of only one easy place in it, and that is the grave.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
A life spent in constant labor is a life wasted, save a man be such a fool as to regard a fulsome obituary notice as ample reward.
—George Jean Nathan (1882–1958) American Drama Critic, Editor
Our job is not to set things right but to see them right.
—Eric Butterworth (1916–2003) American Spirituality Writer
God will forgive me; that’s his business
—Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) German Poet, Writer
It’s the job that’s never started takes longest to finish.
—J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) British Scholar, Author
Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill? Does it keep you from becoming a more fully realized person? Do you feel ashamed of what you have to do at work? All too often, the answer to such questions is yes. Yet it does not have to be like that. Work can be one of the most joyful, most fulfilling aspects of life. Whether it will be or not depends on the actions we collectively take.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
As soon as you have finished a job, you start appreciating the difficulties.
—Chinese Proverb
If you have a job without aggravations, you don’t have a job.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
Happiness is an inside job
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.
—William Bennett (b.1943) American Politician, Political Theorist, Government Official
The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.
—Fred Astaire (1899–1987) American Actor, Dancer, Singer
The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case.
—George W. Bush (b.1946) American Head of State, Businessperson
It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own.
—Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) American Head of State
A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Once a job is fouled up, anything done to improve it makes it worse.
—Indian Proverb
The tougher the job, the greater the reward.
—George E. Allen (1896–1973) American Sportsperson
If your children look up to you, you’ve made a success of life’s biggest job.
—Unknown
Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
There is no future in any job. The future lies in the man who holds the job.
—George W. Crane (1901–95) American Psychologist, Physician
To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job.
—Simone de Beauvoir (1908–86) French Philosopher, Writer, Feminist
The only job where you start at the top, is digging a hole.
—Unknown
The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, “How is the president?”
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
People who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up.
—Ogden Nash (1902–71) American Writer of Sophisticated Light Verse
Find a job you like and you add five days to every week.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b.1940) American Self-Help Author
It’s not my job to motivate players. They bring extraordinary motivation to our program. It’s my job not to de-motivate them.
—Lou Holtz (1893–1980) American Stage Performer
The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
My job is about the most fun thing I do, but I have a broad set of interests, going places, reading things, doing things.
—Bill Gates (b.1955) American Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Author
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
I want everyone to tell me the truth, even if it costs him his job.
—Samuel Goldwyn (1879–1974) Polish-born American Film Producer, Businessperson
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
—Anonymous
Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.
—Unknown
Diamonds are only lumps of coal that stuck to their jobs.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher