Our exertions generally find no enduring physical correlatives. We are diluted in gigantic intangible collective projects, which leave us wondering what we did last year and, more profoundly, where we have gone and quite what we have amounted to.. How different everything is for the craftsman who .. can step back at the end of a day or lifetime and point to an object--whether a square of canvas, a chair or a clay jug--and see it as a stable repository of his skills and an accurate record of his years, and hence feel collected together in one place, rather than strung out across projects which long ago evaporated into nothing one could hold or see. . Alain De Botton
About This Quote

When Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Our exertions generally find no enduring physical correlatives; we are diluted in gigantic intangible collective projects which leave us wondering what we did last year and, more profoundly, where we have gone and quite what we have amounted to,” he was speaking about the power that exists within a person when they have a sense of accomplishment. The craftsman that Emerson was talking about has a vision for his or her life. He or she has a sense of self and understands what he or she is capable of. As a result, each day becomes a challenge instead of a chore as the craftsman focuses on the task at hand.

Source: The Pleasures And Sorrows Of Work

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  2. There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.
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