The 70 best work phrases (to motivate yourself)
Work is a very important facet in our lives . Our professional development is intimately linked to our self-concept, and having a good climate in the workplace makes us feel valued and motivated.
However, all work is linked to effort and the ability to overcome. In a world where resources are limited, training in productive areas is almost the only way to build a better future.
Working Phrases for Motivation
In today’s article we will discover different views on the world of work through the best work phrases .
There are many thinkers, philosophers and sociologists who have written about the strengths and weaknesses of the labour system: here is a good collection of these ideas.
1. See if the work will be bad, they should pay you to do it. (Facundo Cabral)
An ironic look at the yoke linked to work responsibility.
2. I work fast to live slow. (Montserrat Caballé)
The Catalan soprano singer speaks thus about the ultimate purpose of the effort.
3. Work on something, so that the devil will always find you busy. (St. Jerome)
Christian phrase that can be understood in a metaphorical way.
4. The most productive work is that which comes from the hands of a happy man. (Victor Pauchet)
Having a motivated team is one of the keys that all entrepreneurs should know.
5. It is not enough to work, you have to exhaust yourself every day at work. (Auguste Rodin)
It is the daily effort that raises immense projects.
6. If the whole year were a party, having fun would be more boring than working. (William Shakespeare)
About leisure, the more I love it, the more I want it.
7. Some say that hard work hasn’t killed anyone, but I say to myself, why take the risk? (Ronald Reagan)
Lazy phrase.
8. I trust work more than luck. (Latin proverb)
Luck doesn’t come alone; it must catch you working hard.
9. Work! If you don’t need it for food, you need it for medicine. (William Penn)
The benefits of working are not limited to the economic.
10. The horizon is black, the storm is threatening; let’s work. This is the only remedy for the evil of the century. (André Maurois)
Not giving in to pessimism is the best antidote to a decadent life.
11. It has been through work that women have been able to overcome the distance that separates them from men. Work is the only thing that can guarantee her complete freedom. (Simone de Beauvoir)
A feminist view of the workplace.
12. Choose a job you like and you won’t have to work a day in your life. (Confucius)
One of the most repeated and famous work phrases.
13. Pray as if everything depended on God. Work as if everything depended on you. (St. Augustine)
Great reflection to keep going (if you are a believer).
14. You never realize what you have done; you can only see what remains to be done. (Marie Curie)
The phrase of a constant and persevering scientist.
15. We workers are still the poor relation of democracy. (Marcelino Camacho)
This Spanish trade unionist thus reflected on the identity of the working class.
16. Work and struggle always call for the best. (Seneca)
An honor reserved for the mentally and physically strong.
17. Work consists of what an organism is obliged to do; play consists of what an organism is not obliged to do. (Mark Twain)
Obligation and devotion, according to the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
18. The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working as soon as we get up and doesn’t stop working until we get into the office. (Robert Frost)
Funny phrase that reveals what many bad employees tend to do.
19. Work is the refuge of those who have nothing to do. (Oscar Wilde)
A paradoxical look at the desire to advance work.
20. Work always sweetens life, but sweets don’t appeal to everyone. (Victor Hugo)
Not everyone is able to appreciate what a good job brings.
21. It’s a lot of work to leave nothing for tomorrow. (Baltasar Gracián)
Non-procrastination is key to progress.
22. Find happiness at work or you won’t be happy. (Christopher Columbus)
Since we have to spend many hours there, we better find the positive side of it.
23. Only fools are satisfied and confident with the quality of their work. (Mercedes Milá)
About the habit of overcoming every step and not conforming.
24. Work done with taste and love is always an original and unique creation. (Roberto Sapriza)
Creativity is born from the love of work itself.
25. Everyone has the willingness to work creatively. What happens is that most people never notice it. (Truman Capote)
It’s just a matter of looking hard for it.
26. It works on preventing crimes so as not to need punishment. (Confucius)
Another phrase from the Eastern thinker.
27. Work without hurry is the greatest rest for the body. (Gregorio Marañón)
Being able to dose yourself is always a source of satisfaction.
28. To work with love is to build a house with affection, as if your loved one were going to inhabit that house. (Khalil Gibran)
Care for small details makes a difference.
29. I can’t stop working. I’ll have all eternity to rest. (Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
Sacrificial way of life.
30. There must be something wrong with the job, or the rich would’ve taken it already. (Mario Moreno, “Cantinflas”)
The Mexican comedian would ironize about the shortcomings of the work in this way.
31. There is no secret to success. It is the result of preparation, work and learning from failure. (Colin Powell)
The American politician gives us a guide to success.
32. It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. (Babe Ruth)
Simple but effective: always stay on your feet, giving your maximum potential.
33. There is no substitute for hard work. (Thomas Edison)
Either it takes place, or it doesn’t. And the fruits are never the same.
34. Don’t wish things were easier, wish you were better. (Jim Rohn)
Don’t expect the world to join in to make things easy for you, it doesn’t work that way.
35. The only thing that beats bad luck is hard work. (Harry Golden)
Bad luck doesn’t exist if you always give your best version.
36. Paul and I never thought we could make so much money out of this. We just loved writing software. (Bill Gates)
If you keep working on what you love, little by little the benefits will accumulate. From the creator of Microsoft and Windows.
37. Everything gives way to diligence. (Thomas Jefferson)
Agility is always a great ally when doing business.
38. Let me tell you the secret that led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. (Louis Pasteur)
Perseverance. There’s no other secret to success.
39. I hope that the millions of people I have touched have the optimism and desire to share their goals and hard work and persevere with a positive attitude. (Michael Jordan)
The greatest basketball player of all time looked at life with this optimistic attitude.
40. Let the future tell the truth and evaluate each one according to their work and achievements. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine. (Nikola Tesla)
The inventor knew the benefits of continuing to invest in research.
41. Start by doing what is necessary, then the possible and suddenly you will be doing the impossible. (St. Francis of Assisi)
A great lesson for undertaking great projects.
42. All happiness depends on courage and work. (Honoré de Balzac)
That’s right, don’t spare any effort.
43. No man should be forced to do the work that a machine can do. (Henry Ford)
A futuristic vision, but already a reality.
44. Contemplating how others work is a very healthy way of loving work. (Noel Clarasó)
Ironic sentence: when it is others who suffer, our vision is biased.
45. Giving a son a thousand ounces of gold is not comparable to teaching him a good trade. (Chinese proverb)
Eastern education that we should apply to the education of children.
46. Rest belongs to work like the eyelids to the eyes. (Rabindranath Tagore)
Excellent metaphor with deep meaning.
47. Work prevents and cures all the illnesses of the soul; it is the great consoler, the great doctor. (Émile Deschanel)
About its healing effects.
48. Doing two trades is the best way to make them both go wrong. (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
The enlightened Frenchman knew that concentrating efforts on a single project was the most sensible and effective.
49. The essential condition of human happiness is work. (Leo Tolstoy)
Without work it is difficult for a person to be fulfilled.
50. He who does not work does not rest. (Thomas Carlyle)
No heads, no tails.
51. Work as if you had to live forever, and eat as if you had to die tomorrow. (Arabic proverb)
A way to live life on the edge.
52. A man is not poor because he has nothing, but when he does not work. (Montesquieu)
A phrase that encapsulates the daily effort.
53. No work, no rest. Those who only want rest, how much they work for it! (Constancio Vigil)
Reflection so as not to rest on one’s laurels.
54. If you respect the importance of your work, it will probably return the favor. (Joseph Turner)
Whoever gives the best of himself for a good length of time… will possibly be rewarded.
55. There is no bad work, the bad thing is having to work (Don Ramón, from the series El Chavo del Ocho)
Great line from the mythical comic character.
56. The gods help men who help themselves, and this is through work. (Virgil)
If you don’t help yourself, don’t expect anyone’s favor.
57. The more you estimate the more work you earn. (Aristotle)
The value of things, based on the effort invested.
58. Things would go better if each one limited himself to the exercise of the office with which he is familiar. (Plato)
Venturing into uncharted territory is not always positive, according to Plato.
59. Take hold of your craft, however small, and rest in it. (Marcus Aurelius)
Perfect reflection.
60. In the furrow of the plow man buries his vices. (Victor Hugo)
Brutal metaphor that teaches us that work overcomes all defects and bad habits.
61. At all times and in all places we see that two men of the same profession never agree. (John Gay)
It is possible to live in the same guild with diametrically opposed ideas.
62. Work has, among other advantages, the advantage of shortening days and prolonging life. (Denis Diderot)
Paradox for reflection.
63. Heavy work is usually the accumulation of light tasks that were not done on time. (Henry Cooke)
About procrastination and its unwanted effects.
64. When work is a pleasure, life is beautiful. But when it is imposed on us, life is a slave. (Max Gorki)
An abysmal difference.
65. The best remedy against all evils is work. (Charles Baudelaire)
The French writer, on the “medicinal” properties of effort
66. Working costs, but not working costs more. (Tonino Licciardello)
There’s no worse life than someone who aspires to do nothing.
67. Man finds his enjoyment in eating, in the act of reproducing himself, in dressing himself, when he can, in short, in his animal part, but not in what differentiates him from them: in work. (Karl Marx)
Interesting reflection of the communist theorist.
68. Happy is he who has a profession that coincides with his hobby. (George Bernard Shaw)
In line with many other working phrases already mentioned.
69. Give the worker his wages before the sweat has dried from his brow. (Muhammad)
Positive reinforcement in time is always welcome.
70. Always look for a task; when you have it, think only of doing it well. (Thales of Miletus)
About the pursuit of excellence.