This list of work ethic quotes is very near and dear to my heart because I go through it almost every week. Each of these quotes reminds me why it’s vital that I work hard, be professional, and have integrity.
It also makes it easier for me to deal with people who aren’t like that. Being a couch potato and sitting on your behind every single day is an easy life to live. But it isn’t a happy or successful one. My attitude toward work defines who I am. People judge me based on that and offer me different opportunities.
And because I don’t want to miss out on anything in life, I show them only the very best of me, and that includes a stellar work ethic.
If you’re wondering why you should work hard and always show that you have integrity, read through these quotes. Hopefully, they’ll inspire you to do the right thing.
31 Best Work Ethic Quotes That Will Inspire You to Always Be Professional
Morality and Work Ethic Are the Cornerstones of Success
1. “Developing a good work ethic is the key to success. 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
2. “Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it.” — Winston Churchill
3. “There’s nothing of any importance in life — except how well you do your work.” ― Ayn Rand
4. “The best way to learn is by doing. The only way to build a strong work ethic is by getting your hands dirty.” — Alex Spanos
5. “All roads that lead to success have to pass through hard work boulevard at some point.” ― Eric Thomas
6. “Professionalism is knowing how to do it, when to do it, and doing it.” ― Frank Tyger
7. “Professionalism shouldn’t be defined by a person’s paycheck, role, or title. It should be defined by a person’s work ethic.” ― Janna Cachola
8. “There are people who try to look as if they are doing a good and thorough job, and then there are the people who actually damn well do it, for its own sake.” ― John D. MacDonald
Work Ethic Quotes That Inspire You to Have More Integrity
9. “Even though your time on the job is temporary, if you do a good enough job, your work there will last forever.” ― Idowu Koyenikan
10. “I never feared about my skills because I put in the work. Work ethic eliminates fear. So if you put forth the work, what are you fearing? You know what you’re capable of doing and what you’re not.” ― Michael Jordan
11. “Every beautiful mind has great dreams, but rarely is anyone ever ready to work hard for their dreams.” ― Terry Mark
12. “Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises, don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful — be concerned with doing good work and make the right choices and protect your work. And if you build a good name, eventually, that name will be its own currency.” ― William S. Burroughs
13. “The first qualification for success, in my view, is a strong work ethic.” ― Henry Ford II
14. “The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Work is the key to success, and hard work can help you accomplish anything.” ― Vince Lombardi
15. “Have a clear plan or strategy to translate your success philosophy into desired results. Adopt an effective work ethic, with a laser-focus and requisite execution strategies to produce results.” ― Archibald Marwizi
Work Ethic Quotes That Will Help You Reach Your Business Goals
16. “A man is worked upon by what he works on. He may carve out his circumstances, but his circumstances will carve him out as well.” ― Frederick Douglass
17. “Everything yields to diligence.” ― Thomas Jefferson
18. “Take the word for it of a man who has made his way inch by inch and does not believe that we’ll wake up to find our work done because we’ve lain all night a-dreaming of it; anything worth doing is devilish hard to do!” ― Henry James
19. “A can-do attitude, a positive personality, and a strong work ethic are still the primary ingredients for success.” ― Robert Spector
20. “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” ― Ann Landers
21. “A good work ethic is not so much a concern for hard work but rather one for responsibility. There have been a great many men and women who have, in fact, used work or hustle or selfish ambition as an escape from real responsibility, an escape from purpose. In matters such as these, the hard worker is just as dysfunctional as the sloth.” ― Criss Jami
22. “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” ― Vince Lombardi
Work Ethic Quotes That Inspire Professionalism
23. “The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.” ― Wayne Gretzky
24. “Work ethic is important because, unlike intelligence, athleticism, charisma, or any other natural attribute, it’s a choice.” ― Mike Rowe
25. “Live by the creed that a strong work ethic, playing by the rules, and doing things the right way will bring about opportunities for success and, ultimately, happiness.” ― Nick Saban
26. “Work hard. You’re expected to pull your own weight, not to weigh down the team.” ― Frank Sonnenberg
27. “You can’t have a million-dollar dream on a minimum-wage work ethic.” ― Anonymous
28. “A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” ― Albert Camus
29. “You will never win if you don’t deal with your work ethically. All that you need to do is to stick to your principles; morals are relative.” ― Ranveer Singh
30. “Doing the right thing doesn’t automatically bring success. But compromising ethics almost always leads to failure.” ― Vivek Wadhwa
31. “The poor man and the beggar are two quite different classes: one commands respect, the other arouses anger.” ― Napoléon Bonaparte
To Conclude
Sometimes, it feels like hard work doesn’t pay off. We live in a world where who you know is sometimes more important than what you do and how you do it. However, having a strong work ethic is still essential for success. Sure, who you know might determine the opportunities you get.
But as these work ethic quotes highlight, it’s your approach to hard work that will be the deciding factor in what you actually do with those opportunities.
