Echoes Across Time

What Are We Actually Working For?

Karl Marx, Kahlil Gibran, Ursula K. Le Guin, Socrates, Marie Curie — philosophers who asked this before the productivity gurus did. Work is not its own reward. But what is the reward?

56 total quotes

“
All their women from childhood are accustomed to spinning cotton and weaving cloth.

—Leo AfricanusDiplomat & Author

Renaissance ERA • North Africa

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The king's strength is his army. The army's strength is the treasury. The treasury's strength is the people.

—KautilyaPhilosopher & Economist

Ancient World ERA • South Asia

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The value of a man is his price; so much as would be given for the use of his power.

—Thomas HobbesPhilosopher

Renaissance ERA • Western Europe

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Austerity is not an economic policy; it's a political choice.

—Naomi KleinAuthor & Activist

Contemporary ERA • North America

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My hands are a tool. They help me to think.

—El AnatsuiSculptor & Artist

Contemporary ERA • West Africa

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With every passing year, the education you have becomes more valuable.

—Lee Kuan YewScholar & Thinker

Digital Age ERA • Southeast Asia

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Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.

—SocratesPhilosopher

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

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Luxury is everywhere in proportion to the inequality of fortunes.

—MontesquieuPhilosopher

Enlightenment ERA • Western Europe

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

—Karl MarxPhilosopher & Economist

Industrial Age ERA • Western Europe

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Wealth covers great shame.

—Theognis of MegaraElegiac Poet

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

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Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend.

—William ShakespearePlaywright & Poet

Renaissance ERA • Western Europe

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Money is the water we swim in. Most of us don't know we're wet.

—Ayad AkhtarPlaywright & Novelist

Digital Age ERA • South Asia

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I built fortresses, dredged canals, and fostered trade for prosperity.

—BaybarsSultan

Medieval ERA • North Africa

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Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a disgrace.

—HesiodEpic Poet

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

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Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.

—Honoré de BalzacNovelist

Industrial Age ERA • Western Europe

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No excellent company can be created without excellent culture and excellent people.

—Zhang RuiminAuthor & Thinker

Late Modern ERA • East Asia

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Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else.

—Gloria SteinemFeminist, Activist & Journalist

Digital Age ERA • North America

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Innovation requires trust before it requires investment.

—Victor HwangTheorist

Digital Age ERA • North America

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One must be poor to know the luxury of giving.

—Elizabeth GaskellNovelist

Industrial Age ERA • Western Europe

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Disaster capitalism's preferred conditions: people are frightened, confused, and far from home.

—Naomi KleinAuthor & Activist

Contemporary ERA • North America

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