He that would eat the nut must crack the shell.
—Plautus, c. 200 BC
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Quotes
Plough deep while sluggards sleep.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1758I am a friend of the workingman, and I would rather be his friend than be one.
—Clarence Darrow, 1932Eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, eight hours for what we will.
—Slogan of the National Labor Union of the United States, 1866Toil is man’s allotment; toil of brain, or toil of hands, or a grief that’s more than either, the grief and sin of idleness.
—Herman Melville, 1849God sells us all things at the price of labor.
—Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1500I began to realize how simple life could be if one had a regular routine to follow with fixed hours, a fixed salary, and very little original thinking to do.
—Roald Dahl, 1984You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.
—Billie Holiday, 1956