Work quotes

“You see, my mother was a district nurse until she died when I was 14, and we used to move from time to time because of her work.” Paul McCartney

“I don't work at being ordinary.” Paul McCartney

“Putting two songs together, I've always loved that trick when it works.” Paul McCartney

“The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.” Michelangelo

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.” Michelangelo

“Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.” Michelangelo

“I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.” Groucho Marx

“I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.” Douglas MacArthur

“When your hobbies get in the way of your work - that's OK; but when your hobbies get in the way of themselves... well.” Steve Martin

“Bad psychoanalysis would say I enjoyed pleasing people, working really hard and pleasing people, which is probably related to my father in some way. But I really liked working hard. When I worked at Disneyland, I'd do 12 hours straight and go home thrilled.” Steve Martin

“'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' is a good one because it not only turned out, I think, to be a really funny movie but it was also a delight to shoot. We were in the South of France, working with Glenne Headly and Michael Caine and Frank Oz the director - who were just fun.” Steve Martin

“I actually credit Twitter with fine-tuning some joke-writing skills. I still feel like I'm working at it.” Steve Martin

“I got a flue shot and now my chimney works perfectly.” Steve Martin

“I was not naturally talented. I didn't sing, dance or act, though working around that minor detail made me inventive.” Steve Martin

“I would get records by Earl Scruggs... I would tune my banjo down and I'd pick out the songs note by note. Learned how to play that way. I persevered. There was a book written by Pete Seeger, who showed you some basic strumming and some basic picking... And I kind of worked out my own style of playing.” Steve Martin

“We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential.” Barack Obama

“I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95 percent of all working families, because, in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.” Barack Obama

“It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.” Barack Obama

“It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.” Barack Obama

“A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense.'” Barack Obama

“I think what you're seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they've got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out.” Barack Obama

“No party has a monopoly on wisdom. No democracy works without compromise. But when Governor Romney and his allies in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficit by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy - well, you do the math. I refuse to go along with that. And as long as I'm President, I never will.” Barack Obama

“Now, anybody who thinks that we can move this economy forward with just a few folks at the top doing well, hoping that it's going to trickle down to working people who are running faster and faster just to keep up, you'll never see it.” Barack Obama

“Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes,' he said, his voice rising as applause and cheers mounted. 'Shake it off. Stop complainin'. Stop grumblin'. Stop cryin'. We are going to press on. We have work to do.” Barack Obama

“John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded.” Barack Obama

“Now we're in the midst of not just advocating for change, not just calling for change - we're doing the grinding, sometimes frustrating work of delivering change - inch by inch, day by day.” Barack Obama

“I'm no longer just a candidate. I'm the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn't return. I've shared the pain of families who've lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who've lost their jobs.” Barack Obama

“I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president - with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR, and Lincoln - just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do. And we're gonna keep on at it.” Barack Obama

“Now you have a choice: we can give more tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, or we can start rewarding companies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here, in the United States of America.” Barack Obama

“Instead of asking 'How much damage will the work in question bring about?' why not ask 'How much good? How much joy?'” Henry Miller