Effects and Benefits of Work

We sometimes think that it would be very nice to have no work to do. How we envy rich people who do not have to work for their living, but can do just what they please all the year-round. Yet when we feel like this, we make a mistake. Sometimes rich people are not as happy as we think they are, because they are tired of having nothing to do. Most of us are happy when we have regular work to do for our living, especially if the work is what we like to do. The first thing work does for us is to give us happiness. Then work gives us self-respect. The idler, however rich he is, lives on the work of others. He is like the beggar in the streets who takes the money of others, who have had to toil for it. Such people do not live independently and ought to feel ashamed of themselves. But the honest worker who earns his living by useful toil, can hold up his head and respect himself. Lastly, regular work helps to build up character. It teaches us such good habits as punctuality, carefulness, thoroughness, and faithfulness in work. It is the man who works, not the idler that, as a rule, develops the best character.