The Sorrows of Work Quotes

“We constantly search for that elusive holy grail quaintly described by magazines as ‘work/life balance’. But anyone who sincerely believes that such an equilibrium might be possible has not begun to understand the logic of capitalism.”
― The School of Life, The Sorrows of Work

“There is no more common emotion to feel around work than that we have failed.”
― The School of Life, The Sorrows of Work

“We are paying a heavy price for our faith in a fairer world: that of having to take full responsibility for what we achieve and, more poignantly, fail to achieve, in the course of our lives.”
― The School of Life, The Sorrows of Work

“The office environment misses out on the cleansing frankness seemingly possible only when two people know they will have the option of having sex together after a bust-up.”
― The School of Life, The Sorrows of Work

“It is helpful to recognise that modern ideas of love were invented in the late 18th century by artistic people who didn’t have real jobs and therefore made great play of the importance of spending time with a lover explaining and sharing feelings and recounting the movements of one’s heart.”
― The School of Life, The Sorrows of Work

“We should not believe that there is anything faulty about capitalism simply because we have minimal security of employment, little time to see our families, a lot of stress and an uncertain future. These belong to the very conditions that help the system to work well. Our mistake, which has imposed a heavy internal burden on us, has been to confuse our own ambitions for happiness with the goals of the overall economy.”
― The School of Life, The Sorrows of Work

“At the heart of how all individuals function, there is a dream of security: security from humiliation, penury, dependence, arbitrary dismissal and uncertainty.”
― The School of Life, The Sorrows of Work

“Everything we learnt of love ran counter to the mechanisms of commercialisation.”
― The School of Life, The Sorrows of Work