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Workers Quotes

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Workers Quotes

“The world is full of people who have lost faith: politicians who have lost faith in politics, social workers who have lost faith in social work, schoolteachers who have lost faith in teaching and, for all I know, policemen who have lost faith in policing and poets who have lost faith in poetry. It's a condition of faith that it gets lost from time to time, or at least mislaid.”

PeopleKnowsWorldFaithLostSocialTeachingConditionsPoetPoliticianWorkersSocial WorkPolicemenSocial WorkerLost Faith
Book:A Taste for Death
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“Machines have no political opinions, but they have profound political effects. They demand a strict regimentation of time, and, by abolishing the need for manual skill, have transformed the majority of the population from workers into laborers. There are, that is to say, fewer and fewer jobs which a man can find a pride and satisfaction in doing well, more and more which have no interest in themselves and can be valued only for the money they provide.”

MenNeedsWellsJobsPoliticalInterestOpinionEffectsPrideSkillsDemandMachinesMajorityProfoundWorkersPopulationSatisfactionFewerTransformedStrictManualsLaborersPolitical OpinionsRegimentation
Author:W. H. Auden
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“Between labor and play stands work. A man is a worker if he is personally interested in the job which society pays him to do; whatfrom the point of view of society is necessary labor is from his point of view voluntary play. Whether a job is to be classified as labor or work depends, not on the job itself, but on the tastes of the individual who undertakes it. The difference does not, for example, coincide with the difference between a manual and a mental job; a gardener or a cobbler may be a worker, a bank clerk a laborer.”

IfsMenMayDoePlayJobsIndividualDifferencesWorkViewsPayExampleDependsTasteLaborWorkersPoint Of ViewGardenerManualsClerksLaborersCobblers
Author:W. H. Auden
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“Employers, have you ever stopped to reckon what the goodwill of your workers is worth? ... In most large concerns it would be worth more in dollars and cents to have the goodwill of the working force than of those on the outside. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that the average working force is capable of increasing its production 25% or more whenever the workers fell so inclined. Workers animated by ill will cannot possibly give results equal to those of workers animated by goodwill. The tragic fact appears to be that a tremendous number of working forces are not so animated.”

GivingHas BeensFactsWould BeForceResultsNumbersEqualCapableConcernDollarsWorkersAverageIllProductionsTragicCentsEmployersAnimatedGoodwillIll Will
Author:B. C. Forbes
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“The more I move among workers and factories and other plants, the stronger I become convinced that it is advisable to have as [a company] president a practical man, preferably one who has risen from the very bottom of the ladder. Workmen, I find, have far more respect for such men than for collar-and-cuff executives knowing little or nothing about the different kinds of work which have to be done by the workers. Wherever circumstances call for placing a financier or lawyer or a papa's son at the head of a large organization, he should be made chairman or some other title, but not president.”

MenShouldKindLittlesMadeDifferentDoneMovingPresidentCompanyKnowingSonCircumstancesOrganizationStrongerPlantWorkersBottomConvincedLawyerPracticalsTitlesExecutivesFactoriesDifferent KindsLaddersChairmanRisenCollarsPapaWorkmenCuffsFinanciersAdvisable
Author:B. C. Forbes
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“Whenever possible, I like to have the supreme head of a company show me over the works. It is extremely illuminating to note the attitude of workers towards their boss, and equally interesting to note the attitude towards the workers. It is tragic to notice how many chief executives of large concerns are absolutely unknown, even by sight, to the rank and file of their workers.”

ShowsInterestingAttitudeCompanyConcernSightNotesWorkersSupremeChiefsTragicExecutivesBossWorking ItShow MeFilesIlluminatingChief Executives
Author:B. C. Forbes
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“Vacations for wage earners have proved both popular with workers and profitable for employers. Unfortunately, the majority of large employers have not yet followed the example set by a number of progressive corporations. I don't know of a single company that has abandoned vacations for wage earners after having tried the experiment. But I do know many that are delighted with the fruits they have gathered. Under some of the plans vacations with pay must be earned by good behavior, punctuality, etc.... The best results have come where the treatment has been regarded as most liberal.”

KnowsHas BeensResultsNumbersPayCompanyPlansExampleBehaviorMajorityFruitWorkersExperimentsCorporationsEtcTreatmentProgressiveAbandonedVacationEmployersProfitableDelightedPunctualityGood Behavior
Author:B. C. Forbes
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“On the lawn next to the sidewalk a fire ant colony is swarming. The ants are pouring out of a mound nest, here no more than an irregular pile of dirt partly flattened by the last pass of a lawnmower. Winged queens and males are taking off on their nuptial flight, protected by angry-looking workers that run up and down the grass blades and out onto the blistering-hot concrete of the sidewalk. The species is unmistakably Solenopsis geminata, the native fire ant.”

RunningLastsNextFireHotAngrySpeciesWorkersMalesFlightGrassQueensNativeConcreteProtectedDirtBladesUp And DownAntsNestsPouringLawnsColonySidewalk
Author:E. O. Wilson
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“I don't care if you're a parent giving to a child, a worker to a company, or a romantic to a lover, this behavior eventually leads to resentment. There's always a hidden agenda of What's in it for me? It's often suppressed, and this is why sacrifice is ultimately unwise and incomplete. Does this mean that there's no such thing as altruism, philanthropy, or generosity? No, it just means that anytime these exist, so do egocentricity, misanthropy, and greed. There's always a balancing force, even if it's sometimes hidden or unconscious.”

IfsGivingMeanChildrenDoeSometimesCareForceParentCompanySacrificeLoversBehaviorWorkersGreedDon't CareGenerosityI Don't CareUnconsciousAgendasResentmentPhilanthropyAltruismIncompleteUnwiseMisanthropy
Author:John Frederick Demartini
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“The greatest danger to an adequate old-age security plan is rising prices. A rise of 2% a year in prices would cut the purchasing power of pensions about 45% in 30 years. The greatest danger of rising prices is from wages rising faster than output per man-hour.... Whether the nation succeeds in providing adequate security for retired workers depends in large measure upon the wage policies of trade unions.”

MenYearsAgeNationsHoursCuttingPlansSecurityDangerPolicyDependsSucceedTradeUnionsAgingWorkersOld AgeFasterRisingProvidingWagesAdequateRetiredPensionOutputPurchasingTrade UnionsPurchasing PowerRising Prices
Author:Sumner Slichter
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“When men and women across the country reported how happy they felt, researchers found that jugglers were happier than others. By and large, the more roles, the greater the happiness. Parents were happier than nonparents, and workers were happier than nonworkers. Married people were much happier than unmarried people. Married people were generally at the top of the emotional totem pole.”

PeopleMenCountryHappinessFoundFeltParentWorkRolesGreaterEmotionalMarriedMen And WomenWorkersResearchersUnmarriedTotemsJugglers
Author:Faye J Crosby
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“Juggling produces both practical and psychological benefits.... A woman's involvement in one role can enhance her functioning in another. Being a wife can make it easier to work outside the home. Being a mother can facilitate the activities and foster the skills of the efficient wife or of the effective worker. And employment outside the home can contribute in substantial, practical ways to how one works within the home, as a spouse and as a parent.”

WayHomeMotherParentWomenRolesWifeProduceEasierActivitySkillsBenefitsWorkersWork OutPracticalsPsychologicalEmploymentEfficientSpouseInvolvementBeing A MotherFacilitateJuggling
Book:Juggling: The Unexpected Advantages of Balancing Career and Home for Women and Their Families
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“Today's parents have little authority over those others with whom they share the task of raising their children. On the contrary,most parents deal with those others from a position of inferiority or helplessness. Teacher, doctors, social workers, or television producers possess more status than most parents.... As a result, the parent today isa maestro trying to conduct an orchestra of players who have never met and who play from a multitude of different scores, each in a notation the conductor cannot read.”

TryingChildrenLittlesDifferentPlayTodaySocialParentResultsDealsTeacherPlayerSharePositionTelevisionMetsAuthorityTasksDoctorsWorkersContraryProducersScoreMultitudesOrchestraHelplessnessInferiorityConductorSocial WorkerMaestro
Author:Kenneth Keniston
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“The creativity that comes from silence, from a quiet heart, feels different from that of ambition to both the creator and the observer. When the artist or the worker is out of the way, both the creator and the observer experience the art as simply a gift, an expression of the impersonal intelligence shared by all. The creator has no need to take credit for it, the observer no need to possess it.”

WayNeedsFeelsHeartArtDifferentArtistSilenceCreativityExpressionQuietAmbitionWorkersCreatorCreditObserversQuiet Heart
Book:Passionate Presence
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“A miracle worker who can do more with less, pacify rival groups, endure chronic second guessing, tolerate low levels of support, process large volumes of paper, and work double shifts. He or she will have carte blanche to innovate, but cannot spend much money, replace any personnel, or upset any constituency.”

ProcessCan DoLevelsSupportGroupsPaperLowsMiracleWorkersEndureUpsetTolerateVolumeRivalsGuessingPersonnelLow LevelSecond GuessingBlancheMiracle Worker
Book:The Challenge of Change: Start School Improvement Now!
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“Brothers and sisters, I believe that there are few, even temple workers, who comprehend the full meaning and power of the temple endowment. Seen for what it is, it is the step-by-step ascent into the Eternal Presence. If our young people could but glimpse it, it would be the most powerful spiritual motivation of their lives.”

PeopleIfsBelieveWould BeSpiritualYoungMotivationI BelievePowerfulStepsBrotherEternalWorkersTemplesMost PowerfulBrothers And SistersGlimpseAscentEndowment
Author:David O. McKay
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“American feminists have generally stressed the ways in which men and women should be equal and have therefore tried to put aside differences.... Social feminists [in Europe]believe that men and society at large should provide systematic support to women in recognition of their dual role as mothers and workers.”

MenWayShouldBelieveMotherSocialWomenDifferencesRolesSupportFeminismEqualMen And WomenEuropeWorkersFeministRecognitionStressedSystematic
Author:Sylvia Ann Hewlett
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“If you have free universal health care and free education supported by public school taxes, then you have more bargaining power with your bosses, but if everything is privatized, and ordinary Americans have to pay for everything through their wages, then they're at the mercy of their employers. If the workers know they'll be ruined if they lost their jobs, they're not going to be uppity. You want to break their spirit.”

IfsKnowsWantCareSchoolJobsSpiritLostPayEducationBreakHealthTaxesOrdinaryMercyUniversalWorkersHealth CareBossWagesRuinedEmployersPublic SchoolBargainingFree EducationUniversal Health Care
Author:Michael Lind
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“We can only live the changes we wish to see: we cannot think our way to humanity. Every one of us, every group, must become the model of that which we desire to create. We must break the obsolete social and economic systems that divide the world between the over-privileged and the under-privileged. Each of us, whether government leader or protester, business executive or worker, professor or student, share a common guilt.”

ThinkingWorldWayGovernmentDesireHumanityWishSocialCommonLeaderBreakGroupsShareEconomicStudentsModelsGuiltEnvironmentalWorkersExecutivesDividesProfessorsPrivilegedStewardshipObsoleteEconomic Systems
Author:Ivan Illich
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“We can decide that the presence of cancer-causing substances in our air, water, and food is too expensive. A 2009 study, for example, has found that coal miners in Appalachia costs the region five times more in premature deaths, including from cancer, than it provides to the region in jobs, taxes, and economic benefits. In California, the production and use of hazardous chemicals cost the state $2.6 billion in 2004 alone in lost wages and health-care expenses to treat workers and children with pollution-linked diseases.”

ChildrenStatesUseCareJobsFoundLostWaterStudyFiveAirEconomicExampleCostTaxesDiseaseBenefitsTreatsEnvironmentalWorkersIncludingCancerProductionsBillionsHealth CareSubstanceCaliforniaExpensiveRegionsExpensesChemicalsPollutionWagesCoalLinkedPrematureMinersAppalachiaCoal MinersPremature Death
Author:Sandra Steingraber
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“What, then, is the effect of pesticides? Pesticides have created a legacy of pain, and misery, and death for farm workers and consumers alike. The crop which poses the greatest danger, and the focus of our struggle, is the table grape crop. These pesticides soak the fields. Drift with the wind, pollute the water, and are eaten by unwitting consumers. These poisons are designed to kill, and pose a very real threat to consumers and farm workers alike.”

RealPainWaterStruggleFocusEffectsDangerFieldsWindTablesThreatMiseryEnvironmentalWorkersConsumersLegacyPoisonFarmsPollutionCropsGrapesPesticides
Book:An Organizer's Tale: Speeches
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“Tibetans must take full authority and responsibility for developing industry, looking from all different perspectives, taking care of the environment, conserving resources for long-term economic health, and safeguarding the interests of Tibetan workers, nomads, and farmers.”

LongDifferentCareTermInterestResponsibilityEnvironmentEconomicPerspectiveIndustryAuthorityResourcesWorkersDevelopingLong TermFarmersTibetanDifferent PerspectiveNomadConservingSafeguardingAuthority And Responsibility
Author:Dalai Lama
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“We are still in various kinds of patriarchal systems. The very definition of patriarchy is that men control women as the means of reproduction, so the idea that a woman's main role is to have children often means society wants more workers, more soldiers. The idea that how many children we have should be controlled by the family, the church, the nation - by anyone but women themselves - is still very deep and very strong.”

MenWantShouldKindMeanChildrenStillsIdeasStrongNationsChurchRolesWorkersSoldierDefinitionsVariousControlledVery StrongPatriarchyReproductionVery Deep
Author:Gloria Steinem
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“Based on technological research and the transformation of nature, industrialization constantly goes forward, giving proof of incessant creativity. While certain enterprises develop and are concentrated, others die or change their location. Thus new social problems are created: professional or regional unemployment, redeployment and mobility of persons, permanent adaptation of workers and disparity of conditions in the different branches of industry.”

GivingPersonsDifferentProblemCertainDiesSocialCreativityConditionsIndustryResearchTransformationWorkersProofPermanentBranchesEnterpriseConsumerismTechnologicalLocationUnemploymentAdaptationOverconsumptionMobilityIncessantDisparitySocial ProblemsIndustrialization
Author:Pope Paul VI
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