“No great achievement is possible without persistent work.” (Bertrand Russell)
By Kevin Devlin
Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer but not the end of us enjoying the outdoors, walking, running, bicycling, and barbecuing, with family and friends. And after such a torrid summer with high and humid temperatures, some of us (old-timers) are now looking forward to cooler temperatures; and like many others, their favorite season on the year, fall.
But more importantly, the Labor Day holiday honors America’s workers. This custom was born on September 5, 1882, when twenty-thousand enthusiastic workers marched in a parade in New York City. Workers carried banners that read, “Labor creates all wealth” and “Eight hours for work,” “Eight hours for rest” and “Eight hours for recreation.” After their parade they happily picnicked and enjoyed fireworks under the star-studded sky. This inspiring idea, born in the city that never sleeps, soon spread like wildfire across the continent, and thus these demonstrations of solidarity became an annual event.
Here are a few quotes for your reading pleasure as you close out this summer, and for some, getting the kids in school-mode once again:
“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
“I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.” (John D. Rockefeller)
“And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.” (Ecclesiastes 3:13)
“A hundred times every day, I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.” (Albert Einstein)
“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” (Confucius)
NOTE — PLEASE BOLD OUT THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE BEING QUOTED-THANKS!
