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219 quotes, page 2 of 8Safety, health and getting home in one piece
For the driver at the end of a long shift, the forklift operator and the carer on nights: rest, care and the minute that saves a life. Every job ends with going home.
We say who really said each one, and where the credit is uncertain we tell you. Every card is ours to share.
“Fatigue is the best pillow.”
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack
An honest day's work brings good sleep. Just make sure the tiredness arrives at home, not on the road.
“To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.”
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1733)
Drivers and night workers: a lighter meal keeps you more alert than a heavy fry up at three in the morning.
“Eat to live, and not live to eat.”
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1733). An old saying Franklin borrowed, often traced to Socrates.
Pack a proper lunch for a long shift. Service station snacks are no fuel for a ten hour day.
“Haste is from the devil, and patience is from the Merciful.”
Arabic proverb
When the sat nav says you are late, the answer is a phone call to the customer, not a heavy right foot.
“Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly.”
Confucius, Analects 13.17 (James Legge translation)
A rushed clean is a missed spot. Give each room the time it needs.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
Attributed to Lao Tzu. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
A calm, steady pace through the shift gets more done than sprinting and stopping.
“Deal with it before it happens. Set things in order before there is confusion.”
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 64 (Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English translation)
Clear the walkways and stack the pallets before the rush, not during it.
“Know when to stop and you will meet no danger.”
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 44. Translation varies.
When you are too tired to drive safely, stop. Pull into the next services and rest.
“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?”
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 15 (Stephen Mitchell translation)
After a heated moment with a customer, wait until you are calm before you reply.
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Learning a new trade takes seasons, not days. Keep at it at a pace you can sustain.
“The first wealth is health.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life (1860)
Look after your knees, your back and your hearing. They have to last a whole working life.
“He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.”
Arabic proverb
If you are between jobs, keep walking, eating well and sleeping. Health keeps hope alive.
“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
A job that leaves you exhausted every night is costing more than it pays.
“The mind should be allowed some relaxation, that it may return to its work all the better for the rest.”
Seneca, On Tranquillity of Mind 17
Use your days off to properly switch off. You will come back sharper on Monday.
“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”
Ovid, Ars Amatoria
Farmers rest their fields. Take your annual leave so you can keep giving your best.
“What is without periods of rest will not endure.”
Ovid, Heroides 4
Back to back long shifts catch up with everyone. Build rest into your rota.
“You will go most safely in the middle.”
Ovid, Metamorphoses 2. Latin: medio tutissimus ibis.
Not too fast, not too slow: keep to the middle lane of good sense at work and on the road.
“You should pray for a sound mind in a sound body.”
Juvenal, Satires 10. Latin: mens sana in corpore sano.
Physical jobs and desk jobs both need you to look after body and mind together.
“Health is worth more than learning.”
Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Garland Jefferson (1790)
Studying for a qualification at night? Do not sacrifice all your sleep to it.
“When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.”
Thomas Jefferson, A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life (1825)
When another driver cuts you up, count ten. The horn and the hand gestures never help.
“Take things always by their smooth handle.”
Thomas Jefferson, A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life (1825)
Approach a difficult customer or colleague the calm way. It is easier on everyone.
“The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depend.”
Benjamin Disraeli, speech (1877)
A healthy team is a productive team. Good managers notice when people are running on empty.
“The safety of the people shall be the highest law.”
Cicero, De Legibus 3. Latin: salus populi suprema lex esto.
No deadline outranks safety. If it cannot be done safely, it waits.
“Exercise and temperance can preserve something of our early strength even in old age.”
Cicero, On Old Age 10
Older workers on site and in warehouses keep going for years by stretching, pacing and eating sensibly.
“The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter.”
William Osler, A Way of Life (1913)
Focus on today's runs and today's tasks. Carrying the whole week at once wears anyone down.
“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.”
Mark Twain, Following the Equator (1897). From Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.
Water instead of the fourth coffee, salad instead of chips: it is not exciting, but it works.
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”
Attributed to Mark Twain. Widely attributed; the original source has not been traced.
If something hurts, see your GP or a pharmacist rather than guessing from the internet.
“Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.”
William Shakespeare, Henry VIII (Act 1, Scene 1)
Holding a grudge at work burns you more than the other person. Let it cool.
“Measure seven times, cut once.”
Russian proverb
On site, check the drawing and the tape again before you cut. Offcuts cannot be glued back.
“Knock on a stone bridge before crossing it.”
Japanese proverb (Ishibashi wo tataite wataru)
Test the scaffold board, check the ladder feet. Even sturdy things deserve a check.
Other sections
- Work and keeping going (559)
- Stoic calm (316)
- An open mind (366)
- Starting a business (299)
- For leaders (218)
- Working with people (214)
- Mindset and habits (339)
- Safety and health (219)
- Starting again (210)
- Pride in the job (185)
- True stories of people who started small