Labor is not a virtue, but it is an unavoidable condition of a virtuous life.
Always remember the great and immutable truth that the things you own are things that no one else can have and that every particle of everything you use or consume is a particle of human life.
— John Ruskin
Labor can sometimes be unnecessary, fussy, impatient, irritated, disturbing others and drawing attention to itself. Such labor is much worse than idleness. Real labor is always quiet, steady and unnoticeable.
Do not make others do the things you can do yourself. Let everyone sweep before their own front door. And if everyone begins doing that, then the whole street will be clean.
There are only three ways by which any individual can get wealth—by work, by gift or by theft. And, clearly, the reason why the workers get so little is that the beggars and thieves get so much.
— Henry George
If a person, living alone, relieves himself of his duty of battling with nature, he will at once be punished by the fact that his body will begin to die. But if a person relieves himself of this duty by forcing others to do it, then he will at once be punished by the fact that his natural human movement towards self-perfection will stop.
It is not enough to be industrious. What are you industrious about?
— Thoreau
If someone is idling, then another is toiling. If someone is gorged, then another is hungry.
Most of what idle people do that they consider work are pastimes that not only do not lighten other people’s labor, but add to it. Such are all pastimes of luxury.
