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Work is the best and worst of all things; the best of it is voluntary, the worst of it is servile.

— Émile Chartier Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

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More quotes by Émile Chartier

Happiness is a reward that comes to those that have not looked for it.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you have only one idea.

One must preach life, not death; spread hope, not fear and cultivate joy, man's most valuable treasure. That is the secret of the greatest of the wise, and it will be the light of tomorrow.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

If religion is only human, and its form is man’s form, it follows that everything in religion is true.

Les Dieux [The Gods (1934)

Never be insolent unless it is a deliberate decision, and only toward a man more powerful than yourself.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

All Émile Chartier quotes →

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All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

James Howell English Proverbs (1659)

When we see a great man desiring power instead of his real goal we soon recognize that he is sick, or more precisely that his attitude to his work is sick.

Martin Buber What is Man? (1938)

The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.

Robert Frost A Boy's Will (1913)

In a society such as ours, it is almost impossible for a person to be responsible.

Jacques Ellul The Betrayal by Technology (1993)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Émile Chartier (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.