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Meaningful Work Quotes

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Meaningful Work Quotes

“I have a shameful confession to make: Secretly, I am not lazy. I’ve learned that if I do literally nothing for more than a year, two at most, I start to get depressed. I’m not recanting my old manifesto. I still hope to make it to my grave without ever getting a job job — showing up for eight or more hours a day to a place with fluorescent lighting where I’m expected to feign bushido devotion to a company that could fire me tomorrow and someone’s allowed to yell at you but you’re not allowed to yell back. But once I become genuinely engaged in a project, I can become fanatically absorbed, spending hundreds of hours on it, no matter how useless and unremunerative. As a teacher, I edit my students’ writing with a nit-picking precision and big-picture ambition they may likely never experience again. And I don’t believe most people are lazy. They would love to be fully, deeply engaged in something worthwhile, something that actually mattered, instead of forfeiting their limited hours on Earth to make a little more money for men they’d rather throw fruit at as they pass by in tumbrels. It’s no coincidence that so many social movements arose during the enforced idleness of quarantine. One important function of jobs is to keep you too preoccupied and tired to do anything else. Grade school teachers called it “busywork” — pointless, time-wasting tasks to keep you from acting up and bothering them. ("It’s Time to Stop Living the American Scam", The New York Times)”

MotivationWorkCapitalismMeaningful Work
Author:Tim Kreider
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“A man might go to an office and run a computer that would correlate great masses of figures that came from sales reports on how well, let’s say, buttons—or something equally archaic—were selling over certain areas of the country. This man’s job was vital to the button industry: they had to have this information to decide how many buttons to make next year. But though this man held an essential job in the button industry, was hired, paid, or fired by the button industry, week in and week out he might not see a button. He was given a certain amount of money for running his computer; with that money his wife bought food and clothes for him and his family. But there was no direct connection between where he worked and how he ate and lived the rest of his time. He wasn’t paid with buttons. As farming, hunting, and fishing became occupations of a small­er and smaller per cent of the population, this separation between man’s work and the way he lived—what he ate, what he wore, where he slept—became greater and greater for more people. Ashton Clark pointed out how psychologi­cally damaging this was to humanity. The entire sense of self-control and self-responsibility that man acquired during the Neolithic Revolution when he first learned to plant grain and domesticate animals and live in one spot of his own choosing was seriously threatened. The threat had been com­ing since the Industrial Revolution and many people had pointed it out, before Ashton Clark. But Ashton Clark went one step further. If the situation of a technological society was such that there could be no direct relation between a man’s work and his modus vivendi, other than money, at least he must feel that he is directly changing things by his work, shaping things, making things that weren’t there before, moving things from one place to another. He must exert energy in his work and see these changes occur with his own eyes. Otherwise he would feel his life was futile.”

ConnectionMeaningful WorkSense Of Purpose
Book:Nova
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“She was part of a group that helped tilt the world just a tiny bit the right way. Yes, she, one tiny person, was part of it. Hardly noticeable, true, but “hardly” was more than nothing. “Hardly” made all the difference in the world in how she saw herself.”

Great WorkMeaningful WorkMake The World A Better PlaceNo LimitsStand TallLife MattersStart SmallMake Your Mark QuotesEnlighten The WorldFeeling Important
Book:The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen
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“He considered for a moment, then started to play a piece that was very familiar to Ruth, although she had no idea what it was. It was lilting and wistful, and she could have sung the melody if she had wished. 'Alright?' He raised his eyebrows inquiringly. 'Yes. Exactly.' It was effortless and perfect, and he played it through to the end, closing with the softest and most delicate chords, which hung and faded in the quiet hall like the grains of dust raining through the evening light. Ruth was touched. It was all she had wanted. He did not move until there was complete silence again, then he closed the lid without saying anything, and stood up, shoving back the chair. ... 'What was that piece?' 'A Brahms waltz.' 'Hasn't it got a name?' she wanted it to remember. 'Number fifteen. Opus thirty-nine.' It hadn't sounded like numbers to Ruth.”

MusicMusicianMusicalMeaningfulPianoMusic QuotesMeaningful WorkWaltzBrahmsMusician MusicPiano QuoteMeaningful MusicMore Than Numbers
Book:The Beethoven Medal
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“Work hard at work worth doing.”

HardWorkHard WorkLaborPursuePrizeGreat WorkBest WorkWork HarderWork DoneMotivational BusinessTeddyDay JobsMotivational WorkLabor DayGreat PassionGet The Job DoneMeaningful WorkWorking LifeWork To Be DoneWork EnvironmentNo SympathyWork DayMotivational CareerMotivational JobWork RelatedHard Work SuccessHard Work Comes SuccessInspired To WorkLabour DayHard Work MotivationalHappy Labor DayInspirational Hard WorkMotivation And Hard WorkFinding Your PassionJob OpportunitiesPassion For WorkMotivate EmployeesLabour Day WeekendFunny Labor DayPositive WorkWork AppreciationInspirational PassionSatisfaction In WorkSuper MotivationalEnjoy Your WorkGreat MotivationalWorkplace MotivationMotivational ManagementGroup MotivationalStarting Week
Book:Writings
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“Squandering our gifts brings distress to our lives. As it turns out, it's not merely benign or 'too bad' if we don't use the gifts that we've been given; we pay for it with our emotional and physical well-being. When we don't use our talents to cultivate meaningful work, we struggle. We feel disconnected and weighted down by feelings of emptiness, frustration, resentment, shame, disappointment, fear, and even grief.”

IfsFeelsWellsUseFeelingsMotivationalTurnsGivenGriefPayStruggleOur LivesTalentEmotionalShameDisappointmentMeaningfulWell BeingEmptinessFrustrationResentmentDistressDisconnectedBenignMeaningful WorkSquandering
Book:The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
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“As a technologist, I see the trends, and I see that automation inevitably is going to mean fewer and fewer jobs. And if we do not find a way to provide a basic income for people who have no work, or no meaningful work, we’re going to have social unrest that could get people killed. When we have increasing production - year after year after year - some of that needs to be reinvested in society.”

PeopleIfsWayNeedsYearsMeanJobsSocialProductionsMeaningfulIncomeTrendsFewerUnrestMeaningful WorkAutomationSocial Unrest
Author:Edward Snowden
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“The aspirations of most people--security, pleasure, leisure, meaningful work, creative and intellectual pursuits--are to be supported. These desires and dreams are not shameful. In supporting them, we are showing solidarity with working people, for whom these are luxuries and not givens.”

PeopleDreamDesireGivenPleasureCreativeSecurityIntellectualMeaningfulPursuitLuxuryAspirationLeisureSolidarityShamefulMeaningful Work
Book:Dreams of an Insomniac: Jewish Feminist Essays, Speeches, and Diatribes
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“Realize that your physical experience and environment is the materialization of your beliefs. If you find great exuberance, health, effective work, abundance, smiles on the faces of those who you meet, then take it for granted that your beliefs are beneficial. If you see a world that is good, people like you, take it for granted again, that your beliefs are beneficial. But if you find poor health, a lack of meaningful work, a lack of abundance, a world of sorrow and evil, then assume your beliefs are faulty and begin examining them.”

PeopleIfsWorldFacesEvilBeliefRealizingPoorEnvironmentLike YouSorrowAssumingMeaningfulGrantedAbundanceGood PeopleBeneficialExaminingExuberanceMeaningful WorkPoor Health
Author:Seth
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“In the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then you might gain that great tranquility that comes from knowing that you've had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.”

WellsHas BeensEndsHandsMightEarthDifficultKnowingImpossibleCreatingGainsExcellenceSatisfactionMeaningfulContributionTranquilityMeaningful LifeShort TimeCreating SomethingMeaningful WorkGood To Great
Author:James C. Collins
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“If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.”

IfsKnowsLifeInspirationalYearsHeartIdeasMatterInspirationFoundWorkHavensSettlingGet BetterGraduationGreat WorkFear Of FailureGreat IdeaIngenuityBest JobBetter JobsInnovation And BusinessReal JobsMeaningful WorkGreat RelationshipMatters Of The HeartStanford UniversityNever SettleI Haven't ChangedSettling InPositive Work
Author:Steve Jobs
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“Barack Obama's been president for about eight hours; President Obama was here for eight years. So if you want to talk about numbers that matter, it's quantifying all the losses - the women who were slid into poverty, those who can't find meaningful work, and their children who deserve a better life.”

IfsWantYearsChildrenMatterPresidentHoursLossNumbersPovertyDeserveEightMeaningfulBarackPresident ObamaBetter LifeFind MeMeaningful Work
Author:Kellyanne Conway
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“The meaningful work and the meaningful relationships are, to me, comparable rewards. I think being on a mission to do something great is great, and to be on that mission with people who you have really meaningful relationships with not only provides both types of rewards, but it's mutually supportive. Because you can have tough love, but there's also the love part of that in terms of the caring for each other, and when you have the caring you can be tougher on each other. Some people describe it as an intellectual Navy Seals.”

PeopleThinkingTermIntellectualToughCaringMeaningfulSupportiveNavyReally MeanSealsMeaningful WorkMeaningful Relationship
Author:Ray Dalio
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“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

PeopleInspirationalTogetherIndividualLeadershipAbilityResultsCommonBusinessVisionTeamBuildingDirectObjectivesAccomplishmentFuelWorking TogetherMotivational SportsTeamworkCollaborationTeam BuildingVolleyballUncommonTeam WorkInspirational TeamOrganizationalBest TeamGreat TeamBeing TogetherTeamwTeam WorkingBuilding A TeamMeaningful WorkCooperation TeamworkInspirational TeamworkCooperation And TeamworkMotivational TeamworkBasketball TeamworkCommon PurposeInspirational Team BuildingImportance Of TeamworkLeadership TeamworkTeam GoalTeam Work InspirationalTeamwork In EducationGreat TeamworkTeam MotivationalTeam MotivationTeamwork And LoveTeam Building InspirationTeamwork And LeadershipTeam CollaborationCooperation And CollaborationUnity And TeamworkTeam ManagementTeam Work MotivationalInspiring Team BuildingGreat Team BuildingGreat Team WorkTeam LeaderTeamwork In BusinessBetter TogetherFunny TeamworkTeams Not Working TogetherTeam BondingIndividual WorkCommon VisionIndividual Power
Author:Andrew Carnegie
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“When I see brokenness, poverty and crime in inner cities, I also see the enormous potential and readiness for transformation and rebirth. We are creating an art form that comes from the heart and reflects the pain and sorrow of people's lives. It also expresses joy, beauty, and love. This process lays the foundation of building a genuine community in which people are reconnected with their families, sustained by meaningful work, nurtured by the care of each other and will together raise and educate their children. Then we witness social change in action.”

PeopleHeartChildrenArtCareActionPainTogetherFormJoySocialProcessCommunityCitiesFamilyPovertySadnessCrimeBuildingEmotionalSorrowCreatingAnd LoveTransformationRaisesFoundationLaysMeaningfulGenuineEnormousWitnessEducateSocial ChangeRebirthReadinessBrokennessInner CityMeaningful WorkPain And SorrowBeauty And Love
Author:Lily Yeh
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