Home / Books / The Invention of Work

The Invention of Work

Book by J. Phillip Johnson · 3 quotes · Wage Slavery, Work, Work Ethic

Browse quotes from The Invention of Work.

Book detail: The Invention of Work is presented as a focused source page for quotations connected with this book, collection, transcript, or source record.

Browse quotes from The Invention of Work.

The quotes below use the same card format as the rest of the site, including topics, source notes, copy actions, image creation, and sharing controls.

The Invention of Work Quotes

“Work as a metaphysical act, the very “act of being” must be distinguished from labor; work as a remunerative economic invention must be distinguished from subsistence.”

Work Labor Work Ethic Act Wage Slavery Wage Slave

Book:The Invention of Work

Source: The Invention of Work

“Work, thence identified as consistent, indefinite and systematic remunerative labor, foists its demands upon the employee and not the employer.”

Work Employment Work Ethic Employees Wage Slavery Wage Labor

Book:The Invention of Work

Source: The Invention of Work

“While Europe appears to maintain more reticence embracing it, in America there is no question that work can only be discussed as a secular sacrament, with all the indignity one might expect from such a degrading genus. The Protestant qualifier to Protestant work ethic long ago dissipated, leaving the peculiarly American artifact of viewing one’s wages as a moral reward, one’s continuous employment as a state of grace and one’s retirement as an earthly paradise merited by one’s good works.”

Work Retirement Work Ethic American Culture Wage Slavery Protestant Work Ethic

Book:The Invention of Work

Source: The Invention of Work