Work Life Balance Quotes

“There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.”
― Alain de Botton

“Working hard for something we don't care about is called stress: Working hard for something we love is called passion.”
― Simon Sinek

“Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls-- family, health, friends, integrity-- are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.”
― Gary Keller, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

“A 'good job' can be both practically attractive while still not good enough to devote your entire life to.”
― Alain de Botton

“You will never feel truly satisfied by work until you are satisfied by life.”
― Heather Schuck, The Working Mom Manifesto

“You cannot imagine the craving for rest that I feel—a hunger and thirst. For six long days, since my work was done, my mind has been a whirlpool, swift, unprogressive and incessant, a torrent of thoughts leading nowhere, spinning round swift and steady”
― H.G. Wells, When the Sleeper Wakes

“Perhaps the answer is that it is necessary to slow down, finally giving up on economistic fanaticism and collectively rethink the true meaning of the word “wealth.” Wealth does not mean a person who owns a lot, but refers to someone who has enough time to enjoy what nature and human collaboration place within everyone’s reach. If the great majority of people could understand this basic notion, if they could be liberated from the competitive illusion that is impoverishing everyone’s life, the very foundations of capitalism, would start to crumble (p. 169).”
― Franco Bifo Berardi

“Very well then! I'll write, write write. He let the words soak into his mind and displace all else.

A man had a choice, after all. He devoted his life to his work or to his wife and children and home. It could not be combined; not in this day and age. In this insane world where God was second to income and goodness to wealth.”
― Richard Matheson, Collected Stories, Vol. 1

“Always remember that whatsoever is happening to you, is happening within you, and whatsoever you are doing, you are doing with yourself. Even when you are angry and hitting somebody else, you are doing something with yourself. The other is just a screen on which you project.”
― Osho, Beloved of my heart: A Darshan diary

“[Clayton] Christensen had seen dozens of companies falter by going for immediate payoffs rather than long-term growth, and he saw people do the same thing. In three hours at work, you could get something substantial accomplished, and if you failed to accomplish it you felt the pain right away. If you spent three hours at home with your family, it felt like you hadn't done a thing, and if you skipped it nothing happened. So you spent more and more time at the office, on high-margin, quick-yield tasks, and you even believed that you were staying away from home for the sake of your family. He had seen many people tell themselves that they could divide their lives into stages, spending the first part pushing forward their careers, and imagining that at some future point they would spend time with their families--only to find that by then their families were gone.”
― Larissa MacFarquhar

“No, they didn’t have any money, the sea was dangerous and men were lost, but it was a satisfying life in a way people today do not understand. There was a joinery of lives all worked together, smooth in places, or lumpy, but joined. The work and the living you did was the same things, not separated out like today.”
― Annie Proulx, The Shipping News

“You can escape completely, seeking an alternative life, or you can play the game and go absent without leave. How you do it is up to you.”
― Fennel Hudson, Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4

“At times, it is good to take a break to enjoy your achievements.”
― Harjeet Khanduja, The Storytelling Leader and other stories

“Rather than work-life balance, it should be life-work; for priorities’ sake.”
― Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma, Rep By Rep

“I consider competence in contract negotiation foreplay.”
― Lyn Gala, Two Steps Back

“If the time was not sufficient, well and good; let the job be resumed another day.”
― Richard E. Byrd, Alone: The Classic Polar Adventure

“Today who abandons their family for their entrepreneurial dream, tomorrow will abandon their employees when that dream goes bankrupt.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yaralardan Yangın Doğar: Explorers of Night are Emperors of Dawn

“You cannot be an entrepreneur, unless you are a good provider. As a 9 to 5 person, your family is your responsibility, as an entrepreneur the families of your employees are your responsibility, as well as the welfare of your customers or clients. Today who abandons their family for their entrepreneurial dream, tomorrow will abandon their employees when that dream goes bankrupt.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yaralardan Yangın Doğar: Explorers of Night are Emperors of Dawn

“Perhaps the most costly disassembly in which our culture has been engaged is the disaggregation of life itself into work, play, learning, and inspiration. Each of these aspects of life has been separated from the others by creating institutions for engaging in only one at a time, excluding the other three as much as possible. Businesses are designed for work, not play, learning, or inspiration. Country clubs, theaters, and sports stadiums are designed for play, not work, learning or inspiration. Schools are designed for learning, not work, play, or inspiration. Museums and churches are designed for inspiration, not work, play, or learning. However, one of the most important products of systems thinking is the realization that the effectiveness with which any of these four functions can be carried out depends on the extent to which they are carried out together, in an integrated way.”
― Russell L. Ackoff, Re-Creating the Corporation: A Design of Organizations for the 21st Century

“With the barriers between home and work life increasingly fragile, and with the new electronic technology putting increasingly great stress on workers’ physical and mental health, protection of workers’ private time is of increasing importance.”
― Jon Peirce, Work Less: New Strategies for a Changing Workplace

“If giving 100% at work means you can only give 10% when you get home, then give less at work. Your business doesn’t deserve your family.”
― Brandon Michael West, It Is Not Your Business to Succeed: Your Role in Leadership When You Can't Control Your Outcomes

“When I was young, I thought that sacrificing myself and accommodating others was part of my duty. It's good to see the younger ones these days thinking differently.'
'Well, it's not that we see things differently, but at least we need to see a glimmer of hope at the end of that sacrifice. But these days, there's not even a shred of hope. So, we don't see a need to sacrifice anymore,' the younger ones chimed in.
The older lady was shocked.
'Is it that bad?' she asked, looking at them in turn, and they nodded. 'How sad that there's not even a glimmer of hope.' She sighed.”
― Hwang Bo-reum, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

“Wenn sie noch beste Freundinnen gewesen wären, hätte Ky Minnie gestanden, was für sie das Beste an ihrem Job war, nämlich den Leuten sagen zu können, dass sie Journalistin war, aber dass sie die Arbeit selbst als eine anstrengende emotionale Achterbahnfahrt empfand und nicht wusste, ob sich die Mühe lohnte. Musste man jeden Morgen mit Angstgefühlen aufwachen? Musste man bei dem Gedanken, wildfremde Leute anzurufen, in Schweiß ausbrechen? Weil das der Preis dafür war, sich wichtig fühlen zu können?”
― Tracey Lien, All That's Left Unsaid

“Work Life Balance is not always about balancing hours.
It’s about finding harmony in life.”
― Harjeet Khanduja, The Storytelling Leader and other stories

“Unknowingly, we risk important things in life for things we think are important.”
― Harjeet Khanduja, The Storytelling Leader and other stories

“Remember to work late only when it's necessary.”
― Harjeet Khanduja, The Storytelling Leader and other stories

“Tick marks eat up a lot of quality time.”
― Harjeet Khanduja, The Storytelling Leader and other stories

“Life is a story waiting to be read, each chapter written with the ink of experience.”
― Umesha Chathurangi Handapangoda, Mastering Time: Strategies for Productivity and Success

“Even critical theory, which once took its distance from damaged life, becomes another game. Apply to top-ranked schools. Find a good coach. Pick a rising subfield. Prove your abilities. Get yourself published. Get some grants. Get a job. Get another job offer to establish your level in bargaining with your boss. Keep your nose clean and get tenure. You won! Now you can play! Now you can do what you secretly wanted to do all those years ago... Only now you can’t remember.”
― McKenzie Wark, Gamer Theory

“You are replaceable at work, but irreplaceable to your family.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, BECOME: Unleash the Power of Moral Character and Be Proud of the Life You Choose