--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must do away with the absolutely…" description: "\"We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living.\" — R. Buckminster Fuller" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/r-buckminster-fuller-937_drudgery_we-must-do-away-with-the-absolutely-spec_3032361.png" --- # We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that… ![“We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living.” quote by R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/r-buckminster-fuller-937_drudgery_we-must-do-away-with-the-absolutely-spec_3032361.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/r-buckminster-fuller-937_drudgery_we-must-do-away-with-the-absolutely-spec_3032361.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/r-buckminster-fuller-937_drudgery_we-must-do-away-with-the-absolutely-spec_3032361.png) > “We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living.” [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement challenges the belief that everyone must work for a living, proposing alternative ways to meet needs. **In simple terms:** Question the necessity of universal employment. Key Takeaway Explore alternatives to traditional work. Themes economics labor social design future studies philosophy Mood reflective optimistic Type sociological visionary When to use this quote - policy forums - community projects - academic research Key Concepts universal basic income automation resource allocation Questions to Reflect On - What motivates people beyond income? - How can societies provide meaning without work? A Different Perspective The idea may underestimate human desire for purpose. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Drudgery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drudgery/) [Earning a living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earning-a-living/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-true-business-of-people-should-be-to-go-back-to-school-and-think/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/it-is-a-fact-today-that-one-in-ten-thousand-of-us-can-make-a/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [“Every ever you are in the world, you have to work to earn a living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-ever-you-are-in-the-world-you-have-to-work-to-earn-a-living/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [If we give up the notion that everybody’s life is perfect but ours, we would be a lot happier. Nobody’s life is perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-browne/if-we-give-up-the-notion-that-everybody-s-life-is-perfect-but-ours-we/) [Joy Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-browne/) > [“We should do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buckminster-fuller/we-should-do-away-with-the-absolutely-specious-notion-that-everybody/) [Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buckminster-fuller/) > [Children, as well as grown-ups, in their individual, glorified, drudgery-proof homes of Labrador, the tropics, the Orient, or where you will, to which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/children-as-well-as-grown-ups-in-their-individual-glorified-drudgery/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [Skilled work, of no matter what kind, is only done well by those who take a certain pleasure in it, quite apart from its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/skilled-work-of-no-matter-what-kind-is-only-done-well-by-those-who/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“I never had any doubts about my abilities. I knew I could write. I just had to figure out how to eat while doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-never-had-any-doubts-about-my-abilities-i-knew-i-could-write-i-just/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [We should probably start searching around a little earlier in our lives for what I call parallel activities, because most of us get entrenched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darold-treffert/we-should-probably-start-searching-around-a-little-earlier-in-our/) [Darold Treffert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darold-treffert/) > [There are so many ways of earning a living and most of them are failures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/there-are-so-many-ways-of-earning-a-living-and-most-of-them-are/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I realized that most people waste their lives earning a living, and I wanted to live. I love painting, so I keep painting. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-soulages/i-realized-that-most-people-waste-their-lives-earning-a-living-and-i/) [Pierre Soulages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-soulages/) > [I ignore all the doomsaying nonsense. I'm in a business where the odds of ever earning a living are a zillion to one, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-wallace/i-ignore-all-the-doomsaying-nonsense-i-m-in-a-business-where-the-odds/) [Marcia Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-wallace/) > [If I wasn't a model I would have liked to be a gardener. It is still a puzzle to me that I ever became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-shrimpton/if-i-wasn-t-a-model-i-would-have-liked-to-be-a-gardener-it-is-still-a/) Jean Shrimpton > [Life is about more than earning a living, and if you're not in the habit of thinking about it, you can end up middle-aged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-c-nussbaum/life-is-about-more-than-earning-a-living-and-if-you-re-not-in-the/) [Martha C. Nussbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-c-nussbaum/) > [Paul Revere earned his living as a silversmith. But what do we remember him for? His volunteer work. All activism is volunteering in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-j-ellis/paul-revere-earned-his-living-as-a-silversmith-but-what-do-we/) Susan J. Ellis ## More by R. Buckminster Fuller > [If you are the master be sometimes blind, if you are the servant be sometimes deaf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/if-you-are-the-master-be-sometimes-blind-if-you-are-the-servant-be/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark Ages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-dark-ages-still-reign-over-all-humanity-and-the-depth-and/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [All children are born geniuses, and we spend the first six years of their lives degeniusing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/all-children-are-born-geniuses-and-we-spend-the-first-six-years-of/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [I have spent most of my life unlearning things that were proved not to be true](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/i-have-spent-most-of-my-life-unlearning-things-that-were-proved-not/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [There is no energy crisis, only a crisis of ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/there-is-no-energy-crisis-only-a-crisis-of-ignorance/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [The opposite of nature is impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-opposite-of-nature-is-impossible/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [You can never learn less; you can only learn more. The reason I know so much is because I have made so many mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/you-can-never-learn-less-you-can-only-learn-more-the-reason-i-know-so/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [Man is going to be displaced altogether as a specialist by the computer. Man himself is being forced to reestablish, employ, and enjoy his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/man-is-going-to-be-displaced-altogether-as-a-specialist-by-the/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [If we design the environment properly It will permit both child and adult to develop safely And to behave logically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/if-we-design-the-environment-properly-it-will-permit-both-child-and/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [We are in an age that assumes the narrowing trends of specialization to be logical, natural, and desirable. Consequently, society expects all earnestly responsible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/we-are-in-an-age-that-assumes-the-narrowing-trends-of-specialization/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [Synergy means behavior of whole systems unpredicted by the behavior of their parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/synergy-means-behavior-of-whole-systems-unpredicted-by-the-behavior/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [We must start with scientific fundamentals, and that means with the data of experiments and not with assumed axioms predicated only upon the misleading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/we-must-start-with-scientific-fundamentals-and-that-means-with-the/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [The Universe consists of non-simultaneously apprehended events.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-universe-consists-of-non-simultaneously-apprehended-events/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [Humans have always unknowingly affected all Universe by every act and thought they articulate or even consider.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/humans-have-always-unknowingly-affected-all-universe-by-every-act-and/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-failed-experiment-only-experiments-with/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) [Explore all 325 R. Buckminster Fuller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) ## More Drudgery quotes > [“And wings without dreams was drudgery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danyelle-leafty/and-wings-without-dreams-was-drudgery/) Danyelle Leafty > [Freud pointed out, in his Problem of Lay Analysis, that it is extremely unlikely that a young man who would throw the best years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/freud-pointed-out-in-his-problem-of-lay-analysis-that-it-is-extremely/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Drudgery, calamity, exasperation, want, are instructors in eloquence and wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/drudgery-calamity-exasperation-want-are-instructors-in-eloquence-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [the myth of childhood happiness flourishes so wildly not because it satisfies the needs of children but because it satisfies the needs of adults.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/the-myth-of-childhood-happiness-flourishes-so-wildly-not-because-it/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. That is, a class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-henry-hammond/in-all-social-systems-there-must-be-a-class-to-do-the-menial-duties/) [James Henry Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-henry-hammond/) > [There must be a law if there is to be liberty. Try to play a piano and you will run into laws as fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/there-must-be-a-law-if-there-is-to-be-liberty-try-to-play-a-piano-and/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) > [In the usual way I submitted manuscripts to publishers. This was not so much a feeling that I should be published as a wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/in-the-usual-way-i-submitted-manuscripts-to-publishers-this-was-not/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [I do everything. Of course, I have 50 people who work for me to do the drudgery of mold making and all the foundry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-macdonald/i-do-everything-of-course-i-have-50-people-who-work-for-me-to-do-the/) [Richard MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-macdonald/) > [Man is still by instinct a predatory animal given to devilish aggression. The discoveries of science have immensely increased productivity of material things. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/man-is-still-by-instinct-a-predatory-animal-given-to-devilish/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [Who first invented work, and bound the free And holiday-rejoicing spirit down . . . . To that dry drudgery at the desk's dead wood? . . . . Sabbathless Satan!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/who-first-invented-work-and-bound-the-free-and-holiday-rejoicing/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Work is not a curse, but drudgery is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/work-is-not-a-curse-but-drudgery-is/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Even the ordinary business of cleaning house seemed somehow to have become sacramental.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/even-the-ordinary-business-of-cleaning-house-seemed-somehow-to-have/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [This society turns everything it touches into a potential source of progress and exploitation, of drudgery and satisfaction, of freedom and of oppression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/this-society-turns-everything-it-touches-into-a-potential-source-of/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [The everyday cares and duties, which men call drudgery, are the weights and counterpoises of the clock of time, giving its pendulum a true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-everyday-cares-and-duties-which-men-call-drudgery-are-the-weights/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Hypocrites do the devil's drudgery in Christ's livery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mcconaughey/hypocrites-do-the-devil-s-drudgery-in-christ-s-livery/) [Matthew McConaughey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-mcconaughey/) [Browse all 141 Drudgery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drudgery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "R. 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