I didn’t need a calendar to tell me Labor Day was on the horizon. The corn told me. Up until two weeks ago the corn on the cob at the farmer’s market had been pristinely golden. Then the week before last, a few brownish kernels popped up along the golden rows. And last weekend, I had to race a bunch of equally aggressive Manhattan women to the bottom of the corn barrels searching for corn without brown, dried-out tips. We all knew the corn honeymoon was over for that year.
Yet I for one am happy to wave goodbye to summer with its brain-frying heat and to welcome cool Autumn with the hopes of a little gray cell regeneration. So as Labor Day sails closer, here are some global quotes on the subject of work:
- “This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”– Alan Watts
- “It’s easy to say no. But to say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows.” — Jean Anouilh
- “There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.”– Indira Gandhi
- “Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard taskmaster to yourself — and be lenient with everybody else.” — Henry Ward Beecher
- “Personally, I have nothing against work, particularly when performed quietly and unobtrusively by someone else.” — Barbara Ehrenreich
- “The man who doesn’t relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on his head for the edification of the pathologist and trained nurse, a little later on.” — Elbert Hubbard
- “The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” — Joseph Addison
- “How to attract honey from the flower of the world – that is my everyday business. I am busy as a bee about it.” — Henry David Thoreau
Summer Reading:
- Liberty Quotes, Parades and Potato Salad
- A Splurge Feeds the Soul
- Breezy Grilled Meals Easy on the Wallet
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