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Quote#Work

Whoever is not in the possession of leisure can hardly be said to…

Quote byHerman Melville · 1819–1891

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to Catherine G. Lansing (5 September 1877); in Jay Leyda, The Melville Log: A Documentary Life of Herman Melville, 1819-1891 (1951), vol. 2, p. 765.

English (original)

Whoever is not in the possession of leisure can hardly be said to possess independence. They talk of the dignity of work. Bosh. True Work is the necessity of poor humanity's earthly condition. The dignity is in leisure. Besides, 99 hundreths of all the work done in the world is either foolish and unnecessary, or harmful and wicked.

— Herman Melville

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