Work

How do you view work? Read about notable African Americans' perspective on the value of work.

A little less complaint and whining, and a little more dogged work and manly striving, would do us more credit than a thousand civil rights bills.
W.E.B. Dubois

A man's bread and butter is only insured when he works for it.
Marcus Garvey

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Everything is worth it. The hard work, the times when you're tired, the times where you're a bit sad... In the end, it's all worth it because it really makes me happy. There's nothing better than loving what you do.
Aaliyah

I never had a chance to play with dolls like other kids. I started working when I was six years old.
Billie Holiday

I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.
Billie Holiday

If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Labor is the fabled magician's wand, the philosophers stone, and the cap of good fortune.
James Weldon Johnson

Most people who are healthy, and I'm healthy, can't even live my life. Trust me. I get up 530-6 every morning. I'm in the gym. I run a couple miles. I lift weights, and then I'm at work until 8-9 o'clock at night.
Earvin Magic Johnson, Earvin Magic Johnson Interview

My only concern was to get home after a hard day's work.
Rosa Parks

Never work just for money or for power. They won't save your soul or help you sleep at night.
Marian Wright Edelman

That's why I work every day. Ev-er-y day. I want to knock people out.
Aaliyah, VIBE Magazine

The hardest work in the world is being out of work.
Whitney Young, Jr.

The worker must work for the glory of his handiwork, not simply for pay; the thinker must think for truth, not for fame.
W.E.B. Dubois

There is always a bit of pressure to do a good album -- to do good work, period. I really put a lot of pressure on myself, more so than other people. But I try not to let that overwhelm me to the point where I can't even do good work. I just put it aside and do the best that I know that I can.
Aaliyah, Dallas Morning News

There is no labor a person does that is undignified; if they do it right.
Bill Cosby

There?s no free lunch. Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for.
Marian Wright Edelman

What I know is, is that if you do work that you love, and the work fulfills you, the rest will come.
Oprah Winfrey

What's the need of working if it doesn't get you anywhere? What's the use of boring around in the same hole like a worm? Making the hole bigger to stay in?
Marita Bonner

Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching.
Satchel Paige

You 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

You have to enjoy your job; you should wake up every day and love what you do.. I honestly do... From the bottom of my heart to the depths of my soul, I am truly happy.
Aaliyah

You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.
Oprah Winfrey