Why do men delight in work? Fundamentally, I suppose, because there is a sense of relief and pleasure in getting something done - a kind of satisfaction not unlike that which a hen enjoys on laying an egg.
Interpretation
Men find joy and satisfaction in completing tasks, similar to the pleasure a hen feels when laying an egg.
In this quote, H. L. Mencken expresses the intrinsic pleasure that individuals experience from accomplishing work. The metaphor of a hen laying an egg highlights the natural satisfaction of creation and productivity, suggesting that work is not just a necessity but also a source of fulfillment and joy.
In practice
During a motivational speech about finding joy in our careers.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
I wasn't going to be one of those people who died wondering what if? I would keep putting my dreams to the test - even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. This is the shadowland of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.
Don't ask for security, ask for adventure
I've always considered myself the best and the top. I never considered that I was out of it.
Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.
If you want to be a champion you cannot have any kind of an outside negative force coming in to deflect you.
There's no traffic jam on the extra mile.
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