Quotations about:
    occupation


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One must work, if not out of inclination, at least out of despair. All things considered, work is far less boring than entertaining oneself.
 
[Il faut travailler, sinon par goût, au moins par désespoir, puisque, tout bien vérifié, travailler est moins ennuyeux que s’amuser.]

Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) French poet, essayist, art critic
Journaux Intimes [Intimate Journals], “Mon cœur mis à nu [My Heart Laid Bare],” § 40 (1864–1867; pub. 1887) [tr. Sieburth (2022)]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

One must work, if not from inclination at least from despair, since, as I have fully proved, to work is less wearisome than to amuse oneself.
[tr. Isherwood (1930)]

It is necessary to work, if not from inclination, at least from despair. As it turns out, work is less boring than amusing oneself.
[Source, e.g.]

One must work, if not from inclination, at least out of despair -- since it proves, on close examination, that work is less boring than amusing oneself.
[Source, e.g.]

 
Added on 13-Nov-23 | Last updated 13-Nov-23
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There is nothing like employment, active indispensable employment, for relieving sorrow. Employment, even melancholy, may dispel melancholy, and her occupations were hopeful.

Jane Austen
Jane Austen (1775-1817) English novelist
Mansfield Park, ch. 46 (1814)
    (Source)
 
Added on 11-May-23 | Last updated 11-May-23
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KING : Am I the strongest or am I not?
BECKET: You are, today. But one must never drive one’s enemy to despair. It makes him strong. Gentleness is better politics. It saps virility. A good occupational force must never crush, it must corrupt.

Jean Anouilh (1910-1987) French dramatist
Becket, Act 2 (1959) [tr. Hill (1961)
    (Source)

The lines remain intact in Edward Anhalt's 1964 screenplay.
 
Added on 17-Sep-20 | Last updated 17-Sep-20
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The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied.

Adams - keep yourself occupied- wist_info quote

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, ch. 30 (1979)
 
Added on 29-Aug-16 | Last updated 29-Aug-16
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The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation.

Shaw - miserable - wist_info quote

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
Treatise on Parents and Children, “Children’s Happiness” (1914)
 
Added on 17-Dec-15 | Last updated 17-Dec-15
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You do not play then at whist, sir! Alas, what a sad old age you are preparing for yourself!

[Vous ne jouez donc pas le whist, monsieur? Hélas! quelle triste vieilesse vous vous préparez!]

Charles Maurice, Prince de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838) French statesman
(Attributed)

In Amédée Pichot, Souvenirs Intimes sur M. de Talleyrand, "Le Pour et le Contre" (1870).
 
Added on 17-Dec-15 | Last updated 17-Dec-15
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The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) English writer
(Attributed)
 
Added on 1-Jul-15 | Last updated 24-Jun-15
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No man is lonely while eating spaghetti — it requires too much attention.

Christopher Morley (1890-1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist, poet
In Life (24 Oct 1969)
 
Added on 21-Nov-14 | Last updated 21-Nov-14
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It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Anna Jefferson Marks (12 Jul 1788)
    (Source)

The salutation is "My dear Sister," and is a congratulations for her marrying Hastings Marks. Some copies, and filings of the letter, make it out to "Anna Scott Marks," her birth name was Anna Scott Jefferson.
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 17-Jul-22
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