Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Source identified
And let your self-respect forbid you to do imperfectly anything that you do at all.
Read & copy the quotation
“And let your self-respect forbid you to do imperfectly anything that you do at all.”

Margaret Fuller

Download image (JPG)

Source
Woman in the Nineteenth Century
Date
1845
Meaning

Meaning of “And let your self-respect forbid you to do…”

Self-respect becomes a standard for workmanship: valuing oneself should appear not only in feeling but in the care brought to responsibilities and chosen work.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Woman in the Nineteenth Century and Kindred Papers; the sentence appears in advice about practical education, precision, and the development of the whole person.

Primary / edition source ↗

Customize your imageTen designs · Square or portrait · Preview and share
Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

CalmChange and GrowthDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyEffortGrowthInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityIntegrityLoveMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeaceProductivityResponsibilitySelf ImprovementSelf LoveSelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentSelf-Respect Quotes About Dignity & BoundariesShortSuccessProfessionalismWork Ethic
Related quotations

Continue through nearby ideas

Source identified
work is only done well when it is done with a will
Read & copy

“work is only done well when it is done with a will”

John Ruskin · The Crown of Wild Olive · 1866
Meaning & context

Ruskin links quality with willing engagement: merely being compelled to perform a task is not, in his argument, enough to produce work done with judgment and commitment.

Source details

The Crown of Wild Olive, lecture on Work; Project Gutenberg #26716. The sentence occurs in a discussion of how hard work should be organized and chosen; its period labor assumptions remain contextualized.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
My race will succeed in proportion as it learns to do a common thing in an uncommon manner.
Read & copy

“My race will succeed in proportion as it learns to do a common thing in an uncommon manner.”

Booker T. Washington · Up from Slavery · 1901
Meaning & context

Distinctive success can come from doing ordinary work unusually well, emphasizing thoroughness and indispensable usefulness rather than status.

Source details

Up from Slavery, Chapter XVI, “Europe,” Project Gutenberg #2376. While discussing Henry O. Tanner and recognition for excellent work, Washington restates his Tuskegee principle that advancement depends on doing useful work so thoroughly that its value becomes difficult to ignore.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
the paramount importance of the work-habit
Read & copy

“the paramount importance of the work-habit”

William Osler · The Master-Word in Medicine · 1903
Meaning & context

The address stresses that useful work becomes more dependable when it is habitual, making consistency part of professional formation rather than something left to occasional motivation.

Source details

The Master-Word in Medicine, 1903. Osler immediately acknowledges that acquiring the work-habit can be a hard battle; the context therefore supports persistence without turning the passage into a modern workaholism prescription.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
what is an artist but a workman who is determined that, whatever else happens, his work shall be excellent?
Read & copy

“what is an artist but a workman who is determined that, whatever else happens, his work shall be excellent?”

William Morris · Hopes and Fears for Art · 1882
Meaning & context

Morris defines artistic practice through workmanship and a deliberate standard of excellence, joining creative identity to sustained attention to the quality of the work itself.

Source details

Hopes and Fears for Art, lecture “Making the Best of It”; Project Gutenberg #3773. The sentence addresses artistic workmanship rather than claiming every form of labor is art.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
puts his whole conscience into that work, and does it just as thoroughly as it is possible for him to do it.
Read & copy

“puts his whole conscience into that work, and does it just as thoroughly as it is possible for him to do it.”

Booker T. Washington · Character Building · 1902
Meaning & context

Conscience is applied to ordinary manual work, making thoroughness a matter of character even when the task is mortar-mixing or bricklaying.

Source details

Character Building, “The Virtue of Simplicity,” Project Gutenberg #60484. The sentence refers specifically to students doing building work at Tuskegee.

↓ Download image (JPG)