The benefits of working for a living docx

The benefits of working for a living Most of us would like to have been born with a silver spoon in our mouths.. We often envy the man who inherits wealth, and who can therefore live a l

The benefits of working for a living

Most of us would like to have been born with a silver

spoon in our mouths We often envy the man who inherits

wealth, and who can therefore live a life of idleness and

pleasure As we have not been born to riches, we

sometimes hope that we may some day suddenly become

rich by a lucky ticket in a lottery Fancy not having to work

for one’s living

Yet it is certainly a good thing for the community, and

probably a good thing for us, that we cannot live without

working And, in our saner moments, we probably feel it is

a good thing on the whole that God from the first said to

man, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread”; and

recognize the soundness of the apostle’s rule, “If a man

will not work, neither let him eat!”

The necessity of working for a living gives a man the

proud spirit of independence The beggar who lives upon

alms, the parasite who attaches himself to some rich

patron and earns his keep by insincere flattery, are types

which all right-minded people pity or despise Why, then,

should we envy the idle rich, who live upon the wealth

produced by others, and, like drones in the hive, produce

no honey themselves? The worker earns his keep by

honest labor, and can look the world in the face, because

he owes no man anything And while he supports himself

and his family with his own labor, he knows he is

contributing useful goods or services for the benefit of the

whole community For him:

“Each morning sees some task begin,

Each evening sees its close;

Something attempted, something done,

Has earned a night’s repose.”

Then again the regular daily work, which must be done,

produces good habits – such as perseverance,

application, punctuality, thoroughness, attention to details,

and the habit of industry These virtues may be humdrum

and commonplace; but many a promising life has come to

nothing for lack of them And no idler can acquire them

So, blessed be drudgery!

Lastly, compulsory work is often necessary to bring out

and train a man’s talents Many an author who has risen to

fame would never have written a book if he had not had to

earn his living by his pen; and many a successful

businessman would never have developed his gift for

organization and management, if he had been born rich

How many of the rich and aristocratic classes ever do

anything of note? Most of us would remain undeveloped

and untrained if we could