← Your daily dose of motivation
156 quotes, page 1 of 6Pride in the job
For anybody who does it properly when nobody is watching: the tidy load, the clean weld, the bed made right. Craft is a habit, not a job title.
We say who really said each one, and where the credit is uncertain we tell you. Every card is ours to share.
“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
William Morris, The Beauty of Life (1880)
Clear the van or the workbench of what you never use. What stays should earn its place.
“I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.”
William Morris, The Lesser Arts (1877)
Good work is not only for posh shops. A tidy bed made in a care home is craft too.
“When we build, let us think that we build for ever.”
John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849)
The wall you point today may stand for a century. Build it as if your grandchildren will lean on it.
“Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.”
John Ruskin, The Two Paths (1859)
A good carer uses all three: steady hands, a clear head and a kind heart.
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”
Attributed to John Ruskin. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
Clean plates, straight lines and tidy loads do not happen by luck. They come from someone thinking it through.
“There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper.”
Attributed to John Ruskin. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
Cheapest is not always best value. A job done properly once costs less than one done twice.
“Form ever follows function.”
Louis Sullivan, The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered (1896)
Lay out the stockroom for how people actually pick, not for how it looks on a plan.
“Less is more.”
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, his motto. The phrase appears earlier in Robert Browning's poem Andrea del Sarto (1855).
A short, clear handover note beats three pages nobody reads.
“God is in the details.”
Attributed to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
The label facing outwards, the sheet tucked in, the bolt torqued right: details are where pride shows.
“The devil is in the details.”
English proverb
A plan can look fine until you check the delivery dates. Read the small print before you sign off.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
The best rotas, recipes and routes are simple enough that a new starter can follow them.
“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Usually traced to the French poet Paul Valéry.
At some point the job is good enough to hand over. Know when to stop polishing and ship it.
“I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.”
Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
Even the greatest felt they fell short. That feeling is a sign you care, not that you are bad at it.
“If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.”
Attributed to Michelangelo. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
The chef who makes it look easy has burned a lot of pans. Skill is just practice nobody saw.
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Attributed to Michelangelo. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
Every rough job has a good finish hidden in it. Keep working until it shows.
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them, e.g. men become builders by building and lyre-players by playing the lyre.”
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 2 (trans. W. D. Ross)
You do not become a forklift driver from a manual. Get your hours in, with someone good beside you.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars (1939)
Strip a process back to the steps that matter. Fewer moves means fewer mistakes on a busy shift.
“Good design is as little design as possible.”
Dieter Rams, his ten principles of good design
The best signage in a warehouse is the one nobody has to think about.
“The details are not the details. They make the design.”
Charles Eames, as widely quoted
Folded towels, a wiped rim, a clean cab: small touches are what people remember.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.”
Martin Luther King Jr., Facing the Challenge of a New Age (1957)
No job is too small to do beautifully. A cleaner who takes pride is as much a craftsperson as anyone.
“The mechanic, who wishes to do his work well, must first sharpen his tools.”
Confucius, Analects 15.10 (trans. James Legge)
Look after your tools and they look after you. Clean the blades, charge the scanner, check the tyres.
“Jack of all trades, master of none.”
English proverb. Older versions add that he is oft times better than a master of one.
Breadth is useful, but pick one thing to be really good at. It makes you easier to hire.
“Let the cobbler stick to his last.”
Latin proverb (Ne sutor ultra crepidam), from Pliny the Elder's story of the painter Apelles. A last is the wooden foot a shoemaker shapes a shoe on.
Do your own part brilliantly before telling others how to do theirs.
“The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
English proverb
Your CV says one thing; the trial shift shows the rest. Let your work do the talking.
“Even Kobo Daishi sometimes makes a slip of the brush.”
Japanese proverb (Kobo mo fude no ayamari). Kobo Daishi was a monk famous for his calligraphy.
Even the best driver clips a kerb now and then. What matters is that you check and report it.
“Kobo Daishi does not choose his brush.”
Japanese proverb (Kobo fude wo erabazu). A true master does good work with whatever tools are at hand.
A good cook makes a fine meal in a small kitchen. Skill matters more than kit.
“Once you decide on your occupation, you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work.”
Jiro Ono, sushi chef, in Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
Give the trade you choose your full attention for a few years. That is when it starts to give back.
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.”
Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)
Long-serving staff can learn from a new starter's fresh eyes. Ask them what looks odd.
“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
Ernest Hemingway, as widely quoted (1961)
Twenty years in and still learning is not a failure. It is how the good ones stay good.
“The life so short, the craft so long to learn.”
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parliament of Fowls (c. 1380). Modern spelling of "The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne".
A trade takes years. Be patient with yourself in the first ones.
Other sections
- Work and keeping going (447)
- Stoic calm (235)
- An open mind (272)
- Starting a business (245)
- For leaders (167)
- Working with people (155)
- Mindset and habits (246)
- Safety and health (183)
- Starting again (174)
- Pride in the job (156)
- True stories of people who started small