--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But what is work and what is not work? Is…" description: "\"But what is work and what is not work? Is it work to dig, to carpenter, to plant trees, to fell trees, to ride, to fish, to hunt, to feed chickens, to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/george-orwell-57_activity_but-what-is-work-and-what-is-not-work-is_548653.jpg" --- # But what is work and what is not work? Is it work to dig… ![“But what is work and what is not work? Is it work to dig, to carpenter, to plant trees, to fell trees, to ride, to fish, to hunt, to feed chickens, to play the piano, to take photographs, to build a house, to cook, to sew, to trim hats, to mend motor bicycles? All of these things are work to…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/george-orwell-57_activity_but-what-is-work-and-what-is-not-work-is_548653.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/george-orwell-57_activity_but-what-is-work-and-what-is-not-work-is_548653.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/george-orwell-57_activity_but-what-is-work-and-what-is-not-work-is_548653.jpg) > “But what is work and what is not work? Is it work to dig, to carpenter, to plant trees, to fell trees, to ride, to fish, to hunt, to feed chickens, to play the piano, to take photographs, to build a house, to cook, to sew, to trim hats, to mend motor bicycles? All of these things are work to somebody, and all of them are play to somebody. There are in fact very few activities which cannot be classed either as work or play according as you choose to regard them.” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Work and play are perspectives; any activity can be seen as labor or leisure depending on viewpoint. **In simple terms:** All tasks can be work or play. Key Takeaway Recognize the subjectivity of work. Themes perspective labor leisure subjectivity Mood contemplative neutral Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - daily chores - creative projects - employment decisions - recreational hobbies Key Concepts philosophy social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does your view of work affect your motivation? - Can redefining work as play improve satisfaction? A Different Perspective Not all activities fit neatly into binary categories; cultural context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Bicycle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bicycle/) [Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carpenter/) [Chickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chickens/) [Classed Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classed-work-4572452/) [Cooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooks/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fishes/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Hats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hats/) [House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/house/) [Hunts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunts/) [Motor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motor/) [Photograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph/) [Piano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/piano/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Plant a tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant-a-tree/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Playful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playful/) [Regard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regard/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Work play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-play/) [Work Somebody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-somebody/) [Work Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-work/) [You choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you-choose/) ## Related quotes > [Once you decide to work for yourself, you never go back to work for somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sugar/once-you-decide-to-work-for-yourself-you-never-go-back-to-work-for/) [Alan Sugar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sugar/) > [I don’t think of work as work and play as play. It’s all living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-don-t-think-of-work-as-work-and-play-as-play-it-s-all-living/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [“But for you, work is play. Not to work would be work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-n-aron/but-for-you-work-is-play-not-to-work-would-be-work/) [Elaine N. Aron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-n-aron/) > [When you work, work. When you play, play. Don't mix the two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/when-you-work-work-when-you-play-play-don-t-mix-the-two/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [Everything is about balance. You can't work, work, work, work without any play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/everything-is-about-balance-you-can-t-work-work-work-work-without-any/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [The difference between work and play is only a matter of attitude. Work, fully done, is play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-may/the-difference-between-work-and-play-is-only-a-matter-of-attitude/) [Gerald May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-may/) > [“Freud said that life is all about being able to love and to work. And I think it is about those things. But it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/freud-said-that-life-is-all-about-being-able-to-love-and-to-work-and/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) > [Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/work-and-play-are-words-used-to-describe-the-same-thing-under/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Work doesn't work without play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shonda-rhimes/work-doesn-t-work-without-play/) [Shonda Rhimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shonda-rhimes/) > [Play exists for its own sake. Play is for the moment; it is not hurried, even when the pace is fast and timing seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-guenther/play-exists-for-its-own-sake-play-is-for-the-moment-it-is-not-hurried/) [Margaret Guenther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-guenther/) > [“The opposite of play is not work—the opposite of play is depression.” He explains, “Respecting our biologically programmed need for play can transform work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/the-opposite-of-play-is-not-work-the-opposite-of-play-is-depression-2/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [I don't have to work another day of my life, thank God, but I'm in a place where I probably work as hard or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/i-don-t-have-to-work-another-day-of-my-life-thank-god-but-i-m-in-a/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Work and play can be the same. When you are following your energy and doing what you want to do all the time, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakti-gawain/work-and-play-can-be-the-same-when-you-are-following-your-energy-and/) [Shakti Gawain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakti-gawain/) > [I think this dichotomy or opposition between work and play, between leisure and serious stuff, is definitely a bad way of thinking about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/i-think-this-dichotomy-or-opposition-between-work-and-play-between/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [“We are living through a movement from an organic, industrial society to a polymorphous, information system,” wrote Donna Haraway, “from all work to all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-r-galloway/we-are-living-through-a-movement-from-an-organic-industrial-society/) [Alexander R. Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-r-galloway/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But what is work and what is not work? 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