Inspiring Quotes about Hard Work
by CAPP-USA
Quotes about hard work from the Church so that we never forget the dignity of work.
These 15 Hard Work Quotes from the Catholic Church Teach the Dignity of Work
The Catholic Church has a rich tradition of teaching about the value and dignity of hard work, viewing it as an essential aspect of human life and spiritual development.
Hard work is a noble and necessary part of human life, integral to personal development, social justice, and spiritual growth. As Pope St. John Paul II said, “work is a key, probably the essential key, to the whole social question”. (Laborem Exersens, 3)
Beginning with Pope Leo XIII’s seminal Rerum Novarum, which addressed the working conditions of the Industrial Revolution, the Church has maintained the dignity and irreplaceable nature of hard work.
Work as a Participation in God’s Creation
Human work is a participation in God’s creative activity!
Just as God ‘worked’ in the act of creation, we are called to work and contribute to the world. This is rooted in the belief that work is a way to cooperate with God’s ongoing creation (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2427).
- “We were created with a vocation to work.” (Pope Francis, 128)
- Workers “are entitled to see in their work an extension of the work of the Creator…a personal contribution to the realization of the providential plan in history”. (Pope St. John Paul II, 25)
- “[M]an is born to labor as the bird to fly”. (Pope Pius XI, 61)
Work and Human Dignity
Work is seen as a means of upholding and enhancing human dignity. The Church believes that through work we express our dignity as God’s children.
- “[M]an expresses and fulfills himself by working”. (Pope St. John Paul II, 6)
- “[T]he Bible shows that work is one of the original conditions of the human being.” (Pope Benedict XVI)
- “Work is of fundamental importance to the fulfillment of the human being and to the development of society.” (Pope Benedict XVI)
The Spirituality of Work
The Church encourages seeing work not just as a means to an end (like earning a living) but as a spiritual activity.
St. John Paul II in Laborem Exercens emphasized that work has a profound spiritual dimension. It can be a way of growing in holiness when done with the right intention.
- “[O]ne thing is certain: human activity, individual and collective…corresponds to the purpose of God.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 25)
- “[T]here is no poverty worse than that which takes away work and the dignity of work“. (Pope Francis, 162)
- “In the work of man, the Christian finds a small part of the cross of Christ and accepts it in the spirit of redemption with which Christ accepted his cross for us.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 27)
Work as a Means of Sanctification
The Church teaches that ordinary work can be a means of sanctification. By offering one’s daily work to God and performing it with love and dedication, even mundane tasks can become acts of worship.
- Jesus, by his life as a worker, “sanctified human labor and endowed it with a special significance”. (Pope Francis, 98)
- “The sweat and the pain that work necessarily entails [creates]…the possibility of participating in love in the work that Christ came to accomplish”. (Pope St. John Paul II, 27)
Work and the Common Good
The Catholic Church views work as a way to contribute to the common good. It is a way of serving others and the community.
Through work, individuals not only provide for themselves and their families but also contribute to society. The Church encourages work that benefits others and supports the well-being of the community.
- “Work gives us a sense of shared responsibility for the development of the world, and ultimately, for our life as a people.” (Pope Francis, 162)
- “[T]he earth does not yield its fruits without a particular human response to God’s gift, that is to say, without work.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 31)
- “The pursuit of life’s necessities is quite legitimate; hence we are duty-bound to do the work which enables us to obtain them.” (Pope St. Paul VI, 18)
- “By means of his work man commits himself…for others and with others.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 43)
