there is only one way in this world to achieve true happiness, and that is to express yourself with all your skill and enthusiasm in a career that appeals to you more than any other. In such a career, you feel a sense of purpose, a sense of achievement. You feel you are making a contribution. It is not work.
An excerpt from How to Avoid Work, written by William J. Reilly in 1949.
Via Brainpickings, which has many more interesting quotes from the book.
I am curious how culturally specific is this sentiment. Reader thoughts on your own country/culture?
9 Responses
RT @cblatts: What explains why I work so much. Or rather why I don’t work so much. http://t.co/5PQbLppx1W
http://t.co/JPXsPjiqTV @trenchantly from #cblatts An excerpt from How to Avoid Work (William J. Reilly, 1949)
What explains why I work so much. O… http://t.co/JPXsPjiqTV
RT @cblatts: What explains why I work so much. Or rather why I don’t work so much. http://t.co/5PQbLppx1W
As if on cue, in my twitter feed not far below your tweet,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324069104578527642373232184.html?mod=rss_mobile_uber_feed
Shannon Lytle, a 19-year-old from Youngstown, Ohio, who is heading into his sophomore year at Harvard, considered majoring in history, but instead he will pick computer science when he declares a concentration in a few months.
“People say you should do what you love,” Mr. Lytle said during a break from his job giving tours of the Ivy League campus Wednesday. “But the reality is that it’s kind of a tougher economic time, and we do have to worry about living after graduation. I don’t want to be doing what I love and be homeless,” he added.
RT @cblatts: What explains why I work so much. Or rather why I don’t work so much. http://t.co/5PQbLppx1W
We were taught in school that our culture especially “lives to work” (in the vein you’re describing), but that others, and I’m thinking generally Mediterranean cultures, “work to live.” Hence in many of these countries it’s appropriate to take two+ hr. lunch breaks, leave early, etc.
@cblatts Before I read this I am gonna hazard a guess that it is because you are Canadian….
This reminded me of this movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772925/?ref_=sr_1