Labor Day Memories

Labor Day has fallen on the first Monday of September for more than 100 years to honor the American workforce including all individuals, organizations and events. It is a day for millions of Americans to take a rest from their work. So I ask myself...why is it called Labor Day and not Laborless Day?  I grew up in a house where a union worker provided my meals, clothing, roof, everything a person needs to survive.  I knew from an early age what union meant.  I was trained never to cross a picket line and would never have imagined my father driving anything not made in Detroit.  Times have changed.  I am a member of the National Education Association (a union without the title) and still don't cross picket lines (old habits die hard).  Today I want to thank all the hard working Americans who work a 40 hour week for a living.  This morning I went searching for something powerful to say about Labor Day and laborers.  I have found some inspirational quotes to help you understand and appreciate the occasion and the labor of all fellow Americans to help to bring the nation to prosperity and well-being:
Sophocles said, "Without labor, nothing prospers."
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
- Confucious
All wealth is the product of labor.
- John Locke
Work is no disgrace; the disgrace is idleness.
- Greek Proverb
There is no substitute for hard work.
- Thomas Edison
Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind.
- Henry Ford
Before the reward there must be labor. You plant before you harvest. You sow in tears before you reap joy.
- Ralph Ransom (inspired by the Bible)
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.
- Ovid
A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe, for felicity.
- Thomas Jefferson
A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.
- Liberty Hyde Bailey
I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true - hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't do it.
- Ray Bradbury
Hard work doesn't guarantee success, but improves its chances.
- B. J. Gupta
If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great.
- Tom Hanks
 I have always loved this day in a bittersweet kind of way.  It was a day of rest for laborers and it marks the end of the summer.  Happy Labor Day Everyone.  Thank someone who works for you to enjoy life as you know it.