William Faulkner on Work

There was a quote from William Faulkner in the “The Week” October 9, 2015, on page 19: 

“It’s a shame that the only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day is work.  He can’t eat for eight hours; he can’t drink for eight hours; he can’t make love for eight hours.  The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work.”

I was a bit surprised at this quote. 

I know he is a much more thoughtful writer than this quote leads us to believe. 

I was coming up with all sorts of other things I could do for 8 hours rather than work! 

Riding my bike, writing, fishing, reading, meditating… 

So, I Googled this quote and got the more complete version: 

“There were many things I could do for two or three days and earn enough money to live on for the rest of the month. By temperament I’m a vagabond and a tramp. I don’t want money badly enough to work for it. In my opinion it’s a shame that there is so much work in the world. One of the saddest things is that the only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You can’t eat eight hours a day nor drink for eight hours a day nor make love for eight hours — all you can do for eight hours is work. Which is the reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and unhappy.” 

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Faulkner

Ah, that is more like him!  

Context can often completely change the meaning of a partial quote. 

Now there is great quote.  Outlining the desire to enjoy life. 

The desire to live life fully. 

As Rabbi Harold Kushner said:

Nobody on their deathbed has ever said "I wish I had spent more time at the office.” 

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~roni/quotes.html

There is nothing wrong with work. 

There is everything wrong with work that is a waste of time, or work that hurts others. 

So lets end with 2 more quotes:  

If I could live my life again

   in the next one I would try to make more mistakes

   I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more.

   I would be more dumb than I have been, in fact

   I would take very few things seriously.

   I would be less hygienic.

   I would take more risks, more trips,

   I would watch more sunsets,

   I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers.

   I would go to places where I have never been to,

   I would eat more ice-cream and less beans,

   I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.

   I was one of those people who live sensibly and

   prolifically every minute of their life.

   Of course I had happy moments. But if I could

   go back I would try to have only happy moments.

   In case you didn't know life is is made of that, of

   moments only; don't waste this very minute.

   I was one of those people who never went anywhere without

   a thermometer, a bag of hot water, an umbrella and

   a parachute; if I could live again, I would travel light.

   If I could live again I would start to walk barefoot

   at the beginning of the Spring and stay like that until the end

   of the Fall. I would go around more on the calash, I would contemplate more

   dawns and I would play with more children, if I had again life

   ahead.

   But, you see, I am 85 years old and I know I am dying.

                                                            -- J. L. Borges

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.  This is to have succeeded.

                                                            -- Ralph Waldo Emerson