Forbes Asia — October 2017

“A SLUGGARD’S APPETITE IS NEVER FILLED, BUT THE

DESIRES OF THE DILIGENT ARE FULLY SATISFIED.”

—PROVERBS 13:4

“Office life typically

proceeds behind

a mask of shallow

cheerfulness, leaving

workers grievously

unprepared to

handle the fury and

sadness continually

aroused by their

colleagues.”

—ALAIN DE BOTTON

FINAL

THOUGHT

“Fill today with

work; fill tomorrow

with hope.”

—B.C. FORBES

THOUGHTS ON

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: MONDADORI PORTFOLIO/GETTY IMAGES; ULF ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES; CULTURE CLUB/GETTY IMAGES; HOWARD SOCHURE

K/THE LIFE

PICTURE COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES; JOHN SPRINGER COLLECTION/CORBIS/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; DAVE PICKOFF/AP; ANN RONAN PICTURES/PRINT

COLLECTOR/GETTY

IMAGES; MOVIESTORE COLLECTION/ALAMY; PRISMA/UIG/GETTY IMAGES;WOLVERHAMPTON CITY COUNCIL/ARTS AND HERITAGE/ALAMY

“ALL LABOR

HAS DIGNITY.”

—MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

“People don’t

choose their

careers—they are

engulfed by them.”

—JOHN DOS PASSOS

SOURCES: NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME, BY JAMES BALDWIN; THE ALGONQUIN WITS, BY ROBERT E. DRENNAN;

THE TIMES BOOK OF QUOTATIONS; THE WAY OF ALL FLESH, BY SAMUEL BUTLER; DON QUIXOTE, BY MIGUEL DE

CERVANTES; THE PLEASURES AND SORROWS OF WORK, BY ALAIN DE BOTTON; ESSAYS, BY FRANK MOORE COLBY;

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Wo r k

80 | FORBES ASIA OCTOBER 2017

“THIS BECAME A CREDO

OF MINE: ATTEMPT THE

IMPOSSIBLE IN ORDER TO

IMPROVE YOUR WORK.”

—BETTE DAVIS

“Every man’s work, whether

it be literature or music or

pictures or architecture or

anything else, is always a

portrait of himself.”

—SAMUEL BUTLER

“THE THREE MOST

HARMFUL ADDICTIONS

ARE HEROIN,

CARBOHYDRATES AND

A MONTHLY SALARY.”

—NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB

“HOW CAN I TAKE

AN INTEREST IN

MY WORK WHEN

I DON’T LIKE IT?”

—FRANCIS BACON

“The price

one pays for

pursuing any

profession

or calling is

an intimate

knowledge of

its ugly side.”

—JAMES BALDWIN

“DILIGENCE IS THE MOTHER OF GOOD

FORTUNE, AND THE GOAL OF A GOOD

INTENTION WAS NEVER REACHED THROUGH

ITS OPPOSITE, LAZINESS.”

—MIGUEL DE CERVANTES

“One never notices

what has been done;

one can only see what

remains to be done.”

—MARIE CURIE

“I HAVE FOUND

SOME OF THE

BEST REASONS

I EVER HAD FOR

REMAINING AT

THE BOTTOM

SIMPLY BY

LOOKING AT THE

MEN AT THE TOP.”

—FRANK MOORE COLBY

“Anyone can do

any amount of

work, provided

it isn’t the work

he is supposed

to be doing at

the moment.”

—ROBERT BENCHLEY