--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is a PLONGEUR'S work really necessary to…" description: "\"“Is a PLONGEUR'S work really necessary to civilization? We have a feeling that it must be 'honest' work, because it is hard and disagreeable, and we ha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-orwell-57_quote_is-a-plongeur-s-work-really-necessary-to_1850603.jpg" --- # Is a PLONGEUR'S work really necessary to civilization? We… ![“Is a PLONGEUR'S work really necessary to civilization? We have a feeling that it must be 'honest' work, because it is hard and disagreeable, and we have made a sort of fetish of manual work. We see a man cutting down a tree, and we make sure that he is filling a social need, just because he uses…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-orwell-57_quote_is-a-plongeur-s-work-really-necessary-to_1850603.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-orwell-57_quote_is-a-plongeur-s-work-really-necessary-to_1850603.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-orwell-57_quote_is-a-plongeur-s-work-really-necessary-to_1850603.jpg) > ““Is a PLONGEUR'S work really necessary to civilization? We have a feeling that it must be 'honest' work, because it is hard and disagreeable, and we have made a sort of fetish of manual work. We see a man cutting down a tree, and we make sure that he is filling a social need, just because he uses his muscles; it does not occur to us that he may only be cutting down a beautiful tree to make room for a hideous statue. I believe it is the same with a PLONGEUR. He earns his bread in the sweat of his brow, but it does not follow that he is doing anything useful; he may be only supplying a luxury which, very often, is no luxury at all.”” [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. Critiquing the glorification of manual labor without assessing its true societal value. **In simple terms:** Hard work isn’t automatically useful or noble. Key Takeaway Evaluate work based on impact, not effort. Themes labor value society Mood critical analytical Type philosophical social When to use this quote - Job selection - career counseling - policy making Key Concepts Economic theory social critique Questions to Reflect On - When does labor become a luxury? - How can we recognize truly beneficial work? A Different Perspective Hard work can be wasteful if not aligned with genuine needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believe Plongeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-plongeur-2425727/) [Honest work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest-work/) [Necessary Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary-civilization-2425728/) [Plongeur Earns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plongeur-earns-2425729/) [Plongeur Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plongeur-work-2425726/) ## Related quotes > [Tolerance is held to be a condition of mind which is encouraged by, and is necessary for, civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-keith/tolerance-is-held-to-be-a-condition-of-mind-which-is-encouraged-by/) [Arthur Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-keith/) > [And above all, above all, honest work must be rewarded by a fair and just tax system. The tax system today does not reward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/and-above-all-above-all-honest-work-must-be-rewarded-by-a-fair-and/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [I try to be honest and work hard. That's the only two things I worry about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-cowherd/i-try-to-be-honest-and-work-hard-that-s-the-only-two-things-i-worry/) [Colin Cowherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-cowherd/) > [President Trump has challenged Congress to reduce the burden on the American worker and to build an economy that rewards honest work. Congress should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-hawley/president-trump-has-challenged-congress-to-reduce-the-burden-on-the/) [Josh Hawley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-hawley/) > [In a world of lies and liars, an honest work of art is always an act of social responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mckee/in-a-world-of-lies-and-liars-an-honest-work-of-art-is-always-an-act/) [Robert McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mckee/) > [“If you're not honest with your work — if you're being merely decorative — then the world will know. People intuit honest work. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-zackheim/if-you-re-not-honest-with-your-work-if-you-re-being-merely-decorative/) [Michele Zackheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-zackheim/) > [Honest work deserves honest pay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/honest-work-deserves-honest-pay/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“Yeah, impress her with your carpentry skills. Judging by some of the books she reads, she likes big, strong, guys—men who do honest work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lange/yeah-impress-her-with-your-carpentry-skills-judging-by-some-of-the/) [Anne Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lange/) > [My mother has always been truthful and honest about my work. I rely on her opinion as it will be unbiased.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-bachchan-nanda/my-mother-has-always-been-truthful-and-honest-about-my-work-i-rely-on/) [Shweta Bachchan Nanda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-bachchan-nanda/) > [“Favourable Chance, I fancy, is the god of all men who follow their own devices instead of obeying a law they believe in. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/favourable-chance-i-fancy-is-the-god-of-all-men-who-follow-their-own/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I do my films the best as I can, period. I always hope that, gradually, my honest work will reach Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-ocelot/i-do-my-films-the-best-as-i-can-period-i-always-hope-that-gradually/) [Michel Ocelot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-ocelot/) > [The honest work of yesterday has lost its social status, its social esteem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/the-honest-work-of-yesterday-has-lost-its-social-status-its-social/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [“Times never change when there's a need for honest work to be done.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mitchell/times-never-change-when-there-s-a-need-for-honest-work-to-be-done/) [Margaret Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mitchell/) > [“Unsavoury as it is below, there is cheerfulness, and comfort, and hard, honest work above. ("In The Court Of The Dragon")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-w-chambers/unsavoury-as-it-is-below-there-is-cheerfulness-and-comfort-and-hard/) [Robert W. Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-w-chambers/) > [“Strax gave a snort of amusement. ‘It is surely a very simple choice. One option is for a quiet life with honest work amongst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-richards/strax-gave-a-snort-of-amusement-it-is-surely-a-very-simple-choice-one/) [Justin Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-richards/) ## 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 Honest work quotes > [“Strax gave a snort of amusement. ‘It is surely a very simple choice. One option is for a quiet life with honest work amongst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-richards/strax-gave-a-snort-of-amusement-it-is-surely-a-very-simple-choice-one/) [Justin Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-richards/) > [“Unsavoury as it is below, there is cheerfulness, and comfort, and hard, honest work above. ("In The Court Of The Dragon")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-w-chambers/unsavoury-as-it-is-below-there-is-cheerfulness-and-comfort-and-hard/) [Robert W. Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-w-chambers/) > [“Times never change when there's a need for honest work to be done.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mitchell/times-never-change-when-there-s-a-need-for-honest-work-to-be-done/) [Margaret Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mitchell/) > [The honest work of yesterday has lost its social status, its social esteem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/the-honest-work-of-yesterday-has-lost-its-social-status-its-social/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [I do my films the best as I can, period. I always hope that, gradually, my honest work will reach Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-ocelot/i-do-my-films-the-best-as-i-can-period-i-always-hope-that-gradually/) [Michel Ocelot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-ocelot/) > [“Favourable Chance, I fancy, is the god of all men who follow their own devices instead of obeying a law they believe in. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/favourable-chance-i-fancy-is-the-god-of-all-men-who-follow-their-own/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [My mother has always been truthful and honest about my work. I rely on her opinion as it will be unbiased.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-bachchan-nanda/my-mother-has-always-been-truthful-and-honest-about-my-work-i-rely-on/) [Shweta Bachchan Nanda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-bachchan-nanda/) > [“Yeah, impress her with your carpentry skills. Judging by some of the books she reads, she likes big, strong, guys—men who do honest work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lange/yeah-impress-her-with-your-carpentry-skills-judging-by-some-of-the/) [Anne Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lange/) > [Honest work deserves honest pay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/honest-work-deserves-honest-pay/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“If you're not honest with your work — if you're being merely decorative — then the world will know. People intuit honest work. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-zackheim/if-you-re-not-honest-with-your-work-if-you-re-being-merely-decorative/) [Michele Zackheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-zackheim/) > [In a world of lies and liars, an honest work of art is always an act of social responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mckee/in-a-world-of-lies-and-liars-an-honest-work-of-art-is-always-an-act/) [Robert McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mckee/) > [President Trump has challenged Congress to reduce the burden on the American worker and to build an economy that rewards honest work. Congress should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-hawley/president-trump-has-challenged-congress-to-reduce-the-burden-on-the/) [Josh Hawley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-hawley/) > [I try to be honest and work hard. That's the only two things I worry about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-cowherd/i-try-to-be-honest-and-work-hard-that-s-the-only-two-things-i-worry/) [Colin Cowherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-cowherd/) > [And above all, above all, honest work must be rewarded by a fair and just tax system. The tax system today does not reward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/and-above-all-above-all-honest-work-must-be-rewarded-by-a-fair-and/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [I wasn't always a comic, I used to do honest work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alonzo-bodden/i-wasn-t-always-a-comic-i-used-to-do-honest-work/) [Alonzo Bodden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alonzo-bodden/) [Browse all 78 Honest work quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest-work/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Is a PLONGEUR'S work really necessary to civilization? 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