20 Best Hard Work Quotes To Jump-start Your Next Passion Project

Its time to start crossing things off your to-do list!

It’s been said that it takes roughly 10,000 hours to become good at something, or 28
days of doing the same thing over and over to create a habit. So when looking at your
growing list of to-do’s or goals —or maybe even that voice inside that says, “One day
I’m going to…”—remember that not only will it take some time, but it will also require
hard work. We live in a society that likes to have things instantly—streaming movies,
instant music downloads, food or grocery delivery in under an hour, and so on—so
much so that we can sometimes forget the best and most valuable things in life come
from working hard to achieve them. Sitting down at the blank computer screen to get
started on your objectives will require time and lots of creativity, but you’ve got this!
Whatever it is that you're wanting to achieve, if it’s worth it, will require all your attention and energy. So if you're lacking those things right now, check out these best hard work quotes that will give an extra nudge.

* “To achieve what 1% of the world’s population has, you must be willing to do what only 1% dares to do.”
– Manoj Arora

* “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

*“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained in sudden flight but, they
while their companions slept, they were toiling upwards in the night.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

*If your dream is a big dream, and if you want your life to work on the high level you say you do, there’s no way around doing the work it takes to get you there.
– Joy Chapman

*“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”
– Abraham Lincoln

*“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life — and that is why I succeed.”

– Michael Jordan

Hard work and happiness

We often think that happiness is associated with relaxation and the freedom not to do
things we don’t want to do.The reality is that this isn’t how our nervous system is wired. When we work hard and push through our physical and psychological barriers, our body rewards us with the neurochemicals that feel like the experience of being happy.
Depression is associated with a reduction in energy and activity, while hard work often
provides us with feelings of well-being and accomplishment.

8“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good
things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill
the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”
– Barack Obama
8“Make a pact with yourself today to not be defined by your past. Sometimes the greatest
thing to come out of all your hard work isn’t what you get for it, but what you become for it. Shake things up today! Be You…Be Free…Share.”
– Steve Maraboli
*“This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”
– Alan Watts

*“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the
successful one is a lot of hard work.”
– Stephen King

*“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”
– Marcus Aurelius

*A line cook plating frisee salad in a Michelin Starred kitchen
“What you don’t sweat out when you’re young will turn into tears when you’re old.”
Japanese Proverb

Hard work as a value

Working hard is not just something you do, it’s something you embody on the inside and
out.By embedding this attitude of effort deeply in your psyche, you will be able to avoid
rumination and make the mental shortcuts that lead you towards activity and efficiency.
Not everyone is taught the value of hard work as a child, but everyone has the potential
to educate themselves as to its potential once they are an adult, and that’s actually what
you’ll get by reading and reflecting on these quotes regularly.

*“The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second,
stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.”
– Thomas A. Edison
*An oak desk with a laptop, notepad, calculator, and several stacks of charts
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
-Beverly Sills
*“Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of
time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always
doing.”
– Thomas Jefferson
*“Inspiration is the windfall from hard work and focus. Muses are too unreliable to keep
on the payroll.”
– Helen Hanson

*“Leadership is more than just being able to cross the t’s and dot the i’s. It’s about
character and integrity and work ethic.”

– Steven Largent

*“Developing a good work ethic is key. Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you’re a janitor or taking your first summer job, because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.”
– Tyler Perry

*Two pens and some glasses on a marble desk with an old Mac laptop
“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, so
me turn up heir noses, and some don’t turn up at all.
– Sam Ewing