Saturday, July 09, 2011

Quote of the Week

We have had to learn.. that in all the world there are only two sources of real wealth: the fruit of the earth and the labor of men; and to estimate work not by the money it brings to the producer, but by the worth of the thing that is made.

Dorothy Sayers,  Why Work?

3 comments:

Ted M. Gossard said...

Powerful quote. But our civilization is built on the former. Isn't it all about "the bottom line"?

Every Square Inch said...

perhaps but I think Sayers was trying to highlight that there is an intrinsic value to the product of work that is not measured by its market price.

Ted M. Gossard said...

Exactly, ESI. And my thought was that I'm afraid in our rush for prosperity, it is that rush that is the priority for us, and not the value of the product itself. Indeed the value of the product can be valued in terms of the money it brings, rather than its own intrinsic value within creation.