'It's a sin that people fail to take up work'. So says Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith in today's Guardian. While I think that language is not helpful and simplifies a complicated area I do agree that work should always pay and that you should be better off in work than out of work. However one of my favourite philosophers (and one time member of the Liberals) Bertrand Russell said "a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work".
Here are some more of my favourite quotes about work. What are yours?
“I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.” - Oscar Wilde
“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” - Buddha
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” - Donald Kendall
“Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do” - Oscar Wilde
"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence." - Martin Luther King Jr
"Anyone who can walk to the welfare office can walk to work." - Al Cappone
"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." - Theodore Roosevelt
"It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction." - Pablo Picasso
