By Lois E. Wilson
I asked a young woman in her early twenties the question “Why do you work?” She quickly replied, “Because I can’t afford not to!” It was an honest reply.
Most work, especially in the early years of the human race, was done so that mankind could continue to exist. The primary work then was hunting, gathering, planting and finding or building shelter.
Through the ages the sages have asked the same question about work and formed conclusions. Some of those are listed below:
“Every man’s task is his life preserver” (Emerson)
“No man is born into the world whose work is not born with him; there is always work and tools to work with, for those who will.” (James Russell Lowell)
“Work spares us from three great evils: boredom, vice, and need.”(Voltaire)
A young man answered my question with this response “I work now so I can retire sooner rather than later.” The sages say:
“Serious occupation is labor that has reference to some want.” {Hegel)
“Most people spend most of their days doing what they do not want to do in order to earn the right, at times to do what they may desire.” (John Mason Brown)
“If thou be not busy for thyself now, who shall be busy for thee in time to come?” (Thomas A. Kempis)
At any age, many of us learn to accept and appreciate our work for itself. Then the answers begin to change—the answer to the question is often: “I work because I enjoy it; I love to take care of people.” The sages state:
“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
“It is only by labor that thought can be made healthy, and only by thought that labor can be made happy, and the two cannot be separated with impunity.” (John Ruskin)
Woodrow Wilson rightly observed, “No task rightly done is truly private. It is part of the world’s work.”
See how important all the work we do is? That is why we do it.