Labor Day Quotes Celebrating Everyday Work

These Labor Day quotes aim to honor and celebrate the hardest working people in the world.

Leave us a comment at the end of the article and tell us how you will spend the holiday!

There’s so much more to labor day than just a day of rest and relaxation.

What are the benefits of reading these Labor Day quotes?

As defined on the United States Department of Labor website:

Labor Day is “the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

Of course, it also means some people get:

• A three-day weekend
• Holiday pay
• Shortened hours

Since it is the last major summer holiday is a great time to get together with friends and family for a barbeque.

We all work hard, and each of our jobs matters.

These labor day quotes will help you learn more about the holiday and inspire you to celebrate and appreciate your work!

Enjoy these labor day quotes, find some good sales in the retail world, and enjoy the last remnants of summer!

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration. 

Explore our complete collection of motivational quotes here.

When was the first Labor Day?

According to the United States Department of Labor website:

“The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday a year later, on September 5, 1883. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.”

And as we prepare children for a new school year, it’s important to take a minute to honor all the hard and amazing work that is happening around us.

So before you get back to loving the well-deserved day off, enjoy some beautiful Labor Day quotes!

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”― Mahatma Gandhi

Inspirational Quotes About Labor Day

1. “It is labor indeed that puts the difference on everything.” – John Locke

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2. “Labor Day is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race or nation.” – Samuel Gompers

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3. “Labor Day means grilling outside!” – Katie Lee

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4. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”— Aristotle

5. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

6. “There is no substitute for hard work.”— Thomas A. Edison

7. “Concentrate on your job and you will forget your other troubles.” –  William Feather

8. “A man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them.” – Elbert Hubbard

9. “Work isn’t to make money; you work to justify life.” – Marc Chagall

10. “The supreme accomplishment is to blur the lines between work and play.” – Arnold J. Toynbee

Happy Labor Day quotes to give you an extra push

11. “Just try new things. Don’t be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar, all right?” — Michelle Obama

12. “Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.” — Maya Angelou

13. “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

14. “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” — Theodore Roosevelt

15. “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

16. “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.” — Michelangelo

17. “Work is no disgrace; the disgrace is idleness.” — Greek Proverb

18. “When you put a lot of hard work into one goal and you achieve it, that’s a really good feeling.” — Derek Jeter

19. “Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams.” — Donovan Bailey

20. “I’ve heard of nothing coming from nothing, but I’ve never heard of absolutely nothing coming from hard work.” — Uzo Aduba

Happy Labor Day quotes to keep you going

21. “To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” — Pearl S. Buck

22. “Your friends will believe in your potential, your enemies will make you live up to it.” — Tim Fargo

23. “It doesn’t matter how great your shoes are if you don’t accomplish anything in them.” — Martina Boone

24. “Nothing ever comes to one that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.” — Booker T. Washington

25. “Though you can love what you do not master, you cannot master what you do not love.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

26. “There is precious little hope to be got out of whatever keeps us industrious, but there is a chance for us whenever we cease work and become stargazers.” — H. M. Tomlinson

27. “No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”  — Martin Luther King, Jr.

28. “A hundred times every day, I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.”  — Albert Einstein

29. “As we celebrate Labor Day, we honor the men and women who fought tirelessly for workers’ rights, which are so critical to our strong and successful labor force.” — Elizabeth Esty

30. “I’ve learned from experience that if you work harder at it and apply more energy and time to it, and more consistency, you get a better result. It comes from the work.” — Louis C.K.

Inspirational Labor Day quotes

31. “Without labor nothing prospers.” — Sophocles

32. “All happiness depends on courage and work.”― Honoré de Balzac

33. “Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.” — Gordon B. Hinckley

34. “Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle

35. “I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” ― Jerome K. Jerome

36. “Employment is nature’s physician and is essential to human happiness.” — Galen

37. “Our labour preserves us from three great evils—weariness, vice, and want.”― Voltaire

38. “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”― Douglas Adams

39. “If you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn’t anything you can’t do if you want to.” ― Jim Henson

40. “Before the reward there must be labor. You plant before you harvest. You sow in tears before you reap joy.” — Ralph Ransom

Labor Day quotes to inspire success

41. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

42. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

43. “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” — Abraham Lincoln

44. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” — Dale Carnegie

45. “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” — Harry Golden

46. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” — Sam Levenson

47. “Genius begins with great works; labor alone finishes them.” — Joseph Joubert

48. “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” — Napoleon Hill

49. “No human masterpiece has been created without great labor.” — Andre Gide

50. “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” — Vince Lombardi

Labor Day quotes to motivate you

51. “Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” — Jim Rohn

52. “Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.” — Babe Ruth

53. “You learn the value of hard work by working hard.” — Unknown

54. “If you don’t burn out at the end of each day, you’re a bum.” — George Lois

55. “You will never plough a field if you only turn it over in your mind.” — Irish Proverb

56. “The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me?” — Ayn Rand

57. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” — Confucius

58. “Happiness is the real sense of fulfillment that comes from hard work.” — Joseph Barbara

59. “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho

60. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” — Pelé

Labor Day quotes to brighten your day

61. “All wealth is the product of labor.” — John Locke

62. “Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou

63. “Dare to be honest and fear no labor.” — Robert Burns

64. “Without work, men are utterly undone.” ― Nevil Shute

65. “Labor is the only prayer that Nature answers.” — Robert Green Ingersoll

66. “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” — Colin R. Davis

67. “Just keep going like crazy and look back when it’s over. Otherwise, you just get confused.” — Cliff Burton

68. “He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor.” — Menander

69. “Labor is the fabled magician’s wand, the philosophers stone, and the cap of good fortune.” — James Weldon Johnson

70. “I used to work extremely hard and didn’t really achieve a lot of tangible things. But when I started working extremely smart, the gates of abundant blessings opened up for me.” — Edmond Mbiaka

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More Labor Day quotes

71. “If I had nine hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first six sharpening my axe.” — Abraham Lincoln

72. “The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.” — Ayn Rand

73. “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn

74. “Be a worthy worker and work will come.” ― Amit Kalantri

75. “The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible.” — Charles Kingsleigh

76. “The dignity of labor depends not on what you do, but how you do it.” — Edwin Osgood Grover

77. “There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” — Alan Cohen

78. “Without labor, there is no rest, nor without fighting can the victory be won.” — Thomas A. Kempis

79. “You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead.” — George Lucas

80. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — Thomas A. Edison

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Relatable labor Day quotes

81. “We work to become, not to acquire.” — Elbert Hubbard

82. “You’re blessed if you have the strength to work.” — Mahalia Jackson

83. “The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first.” — Ginger Rogers

84. “Inspiration usually comes during work rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle

85. “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” — Thomas Jefferson

86. “Work is not man’s punishment. It is his reward and his strength and his pleasure.” — George Sand

87. “Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.”― Gustave Flaubert

88. “It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.” — Benjamin Franklin

89. “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”― Phil Jackson

90. “No man needs sympathy because he has to work, because he has a burden to carry. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” — Theodore Roosevelt

Labor Day quotes to inspire hard work

91. “Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.” — Bette Davis

92. “You can’t rest on your laurels. Your own body of work is yet to come.” — Barack Obama

93. “Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”  — Napoleon Hill

94. “Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

95. “Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.” — Henry David Thoreau

96. “Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.” — Gautama Buddha

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

98. “Never work just for money or for power. They won’t save your soul or help you sleep at night.” — Marian Wright Edelman

99. “Men are made stronger on the realization that the helping hand they need is at the end of their own right arm.” — Sidney J. Phillips

100. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” — Steve Jobs

More labor day quotes

101. “Nothing is born into this world without labor.” — Rob Liano

102. “Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose” ― Leonardo da Vinci

103. “Persistent work always brings a person successful results.” — Sunday Adelaja

104. “The one who gets rich is the one who devotes himself to his work.” — Sunday Adelaja

105. “An opportunity leading to your blessing can totally change your life.” — Sunday Adelaja

106. “The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.” — Thomas R. Donahue

107. “When God adds favour to your labour, your labour will become flavour.” — Olusunmade Bunmi Damola

108. “May day is not an ordinary day because it is a day that cherishes the extraordinary people, the workers!” — Mehmet Murat ildan

109. “All people who work with their hands are partly invisible, and the more important the work they do, the more invisible they are.” — George Orwell

110. “If suddenly the whole workers of the whole world disappear, then the whole world will stop! Let us all realize this and let us celebrate the workers – these great people who make our world move!” — Mehmet Murat ildan

Labor Day quotes for when you just want a break

111. “Taking a break can lead to breakthroughs.” ― Russell Eric Dobda

112. “Sometimes doing nothing makes way for everything.” ― Hiral Nagda

113. “Don’t underestimate the power of resting. It builds you back unlike anything.” ― Hiral Nagda

114. “Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.” — Anatole France

115. “A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is visible labor and there is invisible labor.” ― Victor Hugo

116. “In this game, everyone needs a break to refuel, recharge, and jump back in full throttle.” ― Helen Edwards, Nothing Sexier Than Freedom

117. “Do something nice for yourself today. Find some quiet, sit in stillness, breathe. Put your problems on pause. You deserve a break.” ― Akiroq Brost

118. “Is there a place you can go to break away for a little while? If you haven’t yet built your tree house, it’s never too late to start.” ― Gina Greenlee, Postcards and Pearls: Life Lessons from Solo Moments on the Road

119. “Let’s loosen up some time and take a break to re-calibrate our life. We need no endless over-thinking, though. Let’s just connect the dots, set the scene, and steam ahead. (On a casual day without a tie).” ― Erik Pevernagie120. “Research shows that we need to take a break and decompress so we can be at our best at work—and at home. Maybe we should ask if the life we’re working so hard to create is fun to live?” ― Tina Hallis, Sharpen Your Positive Edge: Shifting Your Thoughts for More Positivity and Success

Labor Day quotes about the importance of rest and labor

121. “Everything in the world is purchased by labor.” — David Hume

122. “Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration.” — Abraham Lincoln

123. “While we are fighting for freedom, we must see, among other things, that labor is free.” — Woodrow Wilson

124. “If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend.” — Doug Larson

125. “One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” — Elbert Hubbard

126. “You may not know it’s coming / But it’s coming, almost die / Labor Day’s around the corner / Happy Labor Day to You!” — Jim Lowery

127. “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

128. “Labor in this country is independent and proud. It has not to ask the patronage of capital, but capital solicits the aid of labor.” — Daniel Webster

129. “Socialist William Kruse explained that the roots of the labor holiday go back to ancient Rome and sacrifices to Mai, Mother Earth, and Flora, goddess of flowers.” — Colin Fisher

130. “Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the next day. It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken.” — Bill Dodds

Additional happy Labor Day quotes celebrating Labor Day and hard work

131. “Work hard at work worth doing.” — Theodore Roosevelt

132. “Work harder than you think you did yesterday.” — Alex Elle

133. “The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

134. “This is just the beginning of a new era for America’s workers.” — James P. Hoffa

135. “Labor Day is seen as a day of rest for many hardworking Americans.” — James P. Hoffa

136. “Find something you love to do, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” — Harvey Mackay

137. “Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently.” — Marie Forleo

138. “Labor Day 2013 is special. This year marks the centennial of the U.S. Department of Labor – 100 years of working for America’s workers.” — Tom Perez

139. “Most of the time you will fail, but you will also occasionally succeed. Those occasional successes make all the hard work and sacrifice worthwhile.” — Dean Kamen

140. “The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.” — Joshua Waitzkin

What other Happy Labor Day quotes would you add to the list?

Thank you to everyone who continues to make their mark, work hard, make sacrifices and contribute to society!

Let us know some of your favorite ways to spend Labor Day weekend!

You can use the comment section to tell us your normal routine and other favorite Labor Day quotes!