“The mechanic, who wishes to do his work well, must first sharpen his tools.”
Confucius, c. 479 BC · Chinese teacher, recorded by his students
Chapter 2
On Craft
“Mechanics have their shops to dwell in, in order to accomplish their works. The superior man learns, in order to reach to the utmost of his principles.”
Zi Xia, c. 479 BC · disciple of Confucius, recorded in the Analects
“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings.”
Book of Proverbs, 1611 · Hebrew wisdom literature, King James Version
“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, 1853 · English art critic, writing on the medieval stonecutters
“Handle your tools without mittens; the cat in gloves catches no mice.”
Benjamin Franklin, 1758 · American printer, writing as Poor Richard
“I hate to see a man's arms drop down as if he was shot, before the clock's fairly struck.”
George Eliot, 1859 · English novelist, in the voice of the carpenter Adam Bede
“They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.”
Confucius, c. 479 BC · Chinese teacher, recorded by his students
People who had spent whole careers at difficult work warned against juggling many things at once. Take one project at a time, they said, or you get stress and chaos instead of good work.
Cornell Legacy Project cohort, 2011 · more than 1,500 Americans in their seventies and beyond, interviewed on work and career
Researchers who read thousands of daily work diaries found that nothing lifts people doing creative work more reliably than making visible progress in work that matters to them.
Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, 2011 · Harvard Business School researchers who analysed knowledge workers' daily diaries
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