Jobs quotes
13.8K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside jobs — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"It's very easy to look for happiness outside ourselves; in a relationship, a dream job, or the perfect body weight. When we chase happiness externally, we're simply looking for God in all the wrong places. The outside search is based on false projections we place on the world. These projections build up a wall against true happiness, which lies within us."
"But when you are being physically and psychologically tortured, it is difficult to remove yourself from the pressingness of the moment at hand. Here's how I dealt with bullying: I cried, I hated myself, I hated my life. I didn't deal with it, I survived it, but I never dealt with it. So here are two tips from someone with lots of experience. 1: It's not about you, it has nothing to do with you, it's about the assholes doing it to you. 2: Your job is not to deal with it, your job is to survive it, which you CAN do because it WILL end. And then yes, it will get better."
"Wherever you are, that’s your stage, your circle of influence. That’s your talk show, that’s where your power lies. ... You have the power to change somebody’s life. Everyone has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it."
"If you love, absolutely love what you are doing, chances are excellent that you will succeed. There is nothing so exhausting as working on a job you don't like."
"Those who approach their jobs and careers with enthusiasm always find plenty of opportunities, while those who complain about no one ever giving them a chance are merely observers of life. When you are determined that you will not allow others to determine your future for you, when you refuse to allow temporary setbacks to defeat you, you are destined for great success. The opportunities will always be there for you."
"The person who works harder when the boss isn’t around is headed straight for a better job."
"If you do a job another's way, he or she must take the responsibility. If you do it your way, you must take the responsibility."
"It's a lot easier to make friends when you're younger, because kids are a lot less judgmental than adults. They're more like, "O.K., let's be friends." Not, "So, what's your job?" "What's your marriage status?""
"I'm a very down-to-earth person, but it is my job to make that earth more pleasant."
"No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story."
"Librarians are the coolest people out there doing the hardest job out there on the frontlines. And every time I get to encounter or work with librarians, I'm always impressed by their sheer awesomeness."
"There are some men in this world who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father's one of them."
"They needed someone to write a script of The Great Gatsby very quickly for the movie they were making. I took this job so I'd be sure to have some dough to support my family."
"My father said it himself in an interview many years ago: 'Husband and wife failed, but mother and father didn't.' I've got a life that really matters to me, and that's because of the way I was raised. My ethics are high because my parents did a great job."
"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be individual."
"After I win the job and even in the course of seeking it, we're going to be building bridges. And we're going to be meeting people and addressing the concerns that they have."
"I'm lucky to have a job doing something I really love to do, and I'm happy to accept the pressures of relentless deadlines or reader expectations as necessary evils. It's probably not as stressful as mining coal or leading men into battle."
"Corporations are totalitarian institutions. Board of directors at the top of managers give orders, everyone follows orders..... At the very bottom of command, if you are lucky you can rent yourself to it and get a job , and if you are sufficiently propagandized you may even buy some of the junk they produce and so on."
"None of our men are 'experts.' We have most unfortunately found it necessary to get rid of a man as soon as he thinks himself an expert because no one ever considers himself expert if he really knows his job... Thinking always ahead, thinking always of trying to do more, brings a state of mind in which nothing is impossible."
"A long list. From getting cut from the high school basketball team, to getting fired from jobs, getting credit cards rejected and cut up. Rejection has only been a distraction, not a roadblock. “Every no gets me closer to a yes,” was the saying I used to use."
