| Vol. I,
No. 1 |
Oct.
20th, 2000 |
Working Together
Work: A Brief History of
Thought on Labor
Labor Day has come and gone. Whatever there was of the
sense of summer vacation -- whether it was a week or two, or, as a student, the
entire summer -- has faded along with the long light. Now, the days are
back to school schedules, and having to turn on the lights in the morning to see
what you're doing. ... It's that time of year. Not Spring, not
summer ... It's autumn and it's work that's in the air.
Of course, it's not just us who are back to work in
earnest. If you pay attention, you don't have to go far to see or hear the
intensity of labor all around. The chipmunks and field mice are at it
early, and all day, gathering up the beechnuts or the last of the black cherry
pits. ...
Being an election year, you can be sure, too, that the theme of
work is at the top of the political agenda. We hear the debate about a
minimum wage increase, or a livable wage ... and the potential burden these
might place on small businesses struggling to survive. We hear too, about
the needs of family farmers, the loss of jobs, and those whom the "booming
economy" is leaving behind.
What follows are simply some quotes focused on the idea of labor
-- some of them, from names or sources you'll easily recognize ... others,
not. They're in no particular order. ...
We simply thought we'd we'd put up some food for thought ...
about labor.
A Brief History of Thought on Labor
... work ...
long dry hours of dull work ...
swallowed, accepted, lived with, and
finally, loved
From ... What You Should Know to Be a Poet, Gary Snyder
... 'tis no sin for a man to labor in his vocation. ...
From Henry IV, Part I , Wm. Shakespeare
Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh
day ...
thou shalt not do any work.
Genesis 20: 9-10
Value is the life-giving power of anything: cost, the quantity of labor
required
to produce it; price, the quantity of labor which its possessor will take
in
exchange for it.
From ... Munera Pulveris, John Ruskin Work
Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build
it.
Proverbs, 127: 1
Genius is an intuitive talent for labor.
Johannes Waleus
Labor, like all other things which are purchased & sold,
and which may
be increased or diminished in quantity, has its natural & its market
price.
From ... On the Principles of Political Economy & Taxation, David
Ricardo
... a wise & frugal government, which shall restrain men from
injuring
one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate
their
own pursuits of industry & improvement, and shall not take from
the
mouth of labor the bread it has earned ...
From ... 1st Inaugural Address, Jefferson
... Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is
only the fruit
of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor
is the superior of Capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. ...
From ... 1st Annual Message to Congress, Abraham Lincoln
A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible
labor & there is an invisible labor.
From ... Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
{and at the risk of repeating ourselves ...}
... work ...
long dry hours of dull work ...
swallowed, accepted, lived with, and
finally, loved
From ... What You Should Know to Be a Poet, Gary Snyder
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