These Labor Day quotes celebrate the value of hard work

These Labor Day quotes celebrate the value of hard work
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For many, Labor Day represents summer's sad goodbye. But the holiday also ushers in the unofficial start of autumn and all things pumpkin spice. Which means it can't be all bad, right?

Whether you're celebrating by hosting a backyard cookout or squeezing in one last beach day, it's good to keep in mind why we celebrate Labor Day to begin with: to acknowledge hardworking employees.

To help honor them, we’ve rounded up a collection of Labor Day quotes that reflect the spirit of digging in and getting the job done.

If you're curious how the holiday got its start, it began back in the late 19th century when New York labor unions decided to host a parade in honor of all of their dedicated workers. The idea quickly gained traction, eventually becoming an official federal holiday on June 28, 1894, when President Grover Cleveland signed it into law. And, voila, a three-day weekend was born.

From inspirational messages from other former presidents like Theodore Roosevelt and Barack Obama to quotes about success from celebrated athletes and authors, we've saved you the trouble of searching for an inspiring quote to post on your social media.

And that's good news, because now you have time to do exactly what you're supposed to on Labor Day — kick back and relax.

Labor Day Quotes
Labor Day Quotes
  • "Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable." — Coco Chanel

  • "A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work." — Colin Powell

  • "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." — Tim Notke

  • "Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds." — Gordon B. Hinckley

  • “If you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn’t anything you can’t do if you want to.” — Jim Henson

  • "Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen." — Michael Jordan

  • "Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses." — Kobe Bryant

  • "I learned the value of hard work by working hard." — Margaret Mead

  • "Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit." — Helena Rubinstein

  • "Dedication, hard work all the time, and belief." — Cristiano Ronaldo

  • "You always pass failure on your way to success." — Mickey Rooney

  • "Hard work should be rewarded by good food." — Ken Follet

  • "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." — Dale Carnegie

Labor Day Quotes
Labor Day Quotes
  • "Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?" — Michelle Obama, "Becoming"

  • "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed." — Booker T. Washington, "Up from Slavery: An Autobiography"

  • “There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.” — Henry Ford

  • “Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” — Gail Devers

  • “There is more to life than making a living. Do not work more than you live.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

  • “It was working men and women who made the 20th century the American century. It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today.” — Barack Obama

  • “Perseverance is the act of true role models and heroes.” — Liza M. Wiemer

  • “Today is your opportunity to build the tomorrow you want.” — Ken Poirot

  • "We fail the minute we let someone else define success for us.” — Brené Brown, “Dare to Lead”

  • “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” — Kevin Durant

  • “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” — Shirley Chisholm

Labor Day Quotes
Labor Day Quotes
Labor Day Quotes
Labor Day Quotes
Labor Day Quotes
Labor Day Quotes
  • “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” — Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan, “A League of Their Own”

  • “It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound reinvention.” — Conan O’Brien

  • “Magic lies in challenging what seems impossible.” — Carol Moseley Braun

  • “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” — Herman Cain

  • “I have a firm belief in the ability and power of women to achieve the things they want to achieve.”— Eleanor Roosevelt

  • “Sometimes you have to be satisfied. You try hard enough. Don’t be so self-critical; don’t be so hard on yourself.” — Billie Jean King

  • “What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.” — Margaret Thatcher

  • “The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.” — Tony Robbins

  • “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” — Abraham Lincoln

  • “Your success and happiness lies in you.” — Helen Keller

  • “It’s not about money or connections — it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone when it comes to your business. And if it fails, you learn from what happened and do a better job next time.” — Mark Cuban

  • “Everything yields to diligence.” — Thomas Jefferson

  • “If we want people to fully show up, to bring their whole selves including their unarmored, whole hearts — so that we can innovate, solve problems and serve people — we have to be vigilant about creating a culture in which people feel safe, seen, heard and respected.” — Brené  Brown, “Dare to Lead”

  • “Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” — Abraham Lincoln

  • “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” ― Thomas Jefferson

  • “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.” ― Thomas A. Edison

  • “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” ― Beverly Sills

  • “Sometimes there’s not a better way. Sometimes there’s only the hard way.” — Mary E. Pearson, “The Fox Inheritance”

  • “It doesn’t matter how great your shoes are if you don’t accomplish anything in them.” — Martina Boone, “Compulsion”

  • “Though you can love what you do not master, you cannot master what you do not love.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

  • “The best advice I can give anybody is to try and understand who you are and what you want to do, and don’t be afraid to go down that road and do whatever it takes and work as hard as you have to work to achieve that.” — Sally Ride

  • “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” — Abraham Lincoln

  • “Persistence overshadows even talent as the most valuable resource shaping the quality of life.” — Tony Robbins

  • “Be the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment, own it.” — Oprah Winfrey

  • “It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

  • “I’ve got a woman’s ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.” — Margaret Thatcher

  • “I think sometimes in life the biggest challenges end up being the best things that happen in your life.” — Tom Brady

  • “There’s only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.” — Vince Lombardi

  • “It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.” — Mark Cuban

  • “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” — William Feather, “The Business of Life”

  • “Then give the world the best that you have / And the best will come back to you.” — Madeline S. Bridges

  • “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” — Theodore Roosevelt

  • “You must work and do good, not be lazy and gamble, if you wish to earn happiness. Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.” — Anne Frank, “The Diary of Anne Frank”

  • “The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.” — Richard Bach, “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah”

  • “To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is gravy.” — Bette Davis

  • "No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life.” — Samuel Goldwyn

This article was originally published on TODAY.com