You know, I'm gay and I grew up being aware of that at a very early age, in a fairly repressed family.
Alan BallRead
I need to feel like the work I'm doing is not necessarily important, but meaningful, at least to me, because otherwise it just becomes a day job. It just becomes factory work and I get really frustrated.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of finding personal meaning in one's work to avoid frustration and monotony.
Alan Ball expresses the idea that work should hold personal significance beyond its external importance. If one views their job merely as a routine task akin to factory work, it can lead to dissatisfaction and frustration. Therefore, finding meaning in what one does is essential for maintaining passion and fulfillment in work.
Themes
Meaningful WorkJob SatisfactionPersonal FulfillmentFrustrationPurpose
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about finding passion in your career.
More from Alan Ball
All quotes →If a scene is longer than three pages, it better be for a good reason.
Alan BallRead
It's hard for me to get interested in stories that ignore death, which is what American marketing culture would like to do: pretend that death doesn't exist, that you can buy immortality; just buy these products, and you'll be forever young and happy.
Alan BallRead
Death is a companion for all of us, whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we're aware of it or not, and it's not necessarily a terrible thing.
Alan BallRead
I was conveniently bisexual for a long time, and then I went, 'Come on, who am I kidding?' And I have to say, it was the single biggest step I took toward emotional well-being, to stop feeling like I had to hide who I am.
Alan BallRead
I try to tell the best story, and the story that has some heart and some genuine terror and some social commentary and some comedy and some romance and some sex and some violence.
Alan BallRead
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Some 80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home; why shouldn't you have fun at work?
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I like the job. That's what I'll miss the most... I'm not sure anybody ever liked this as much as I've liked it.
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I love almost everything about my work except conferences. I am too shy in front of an audience. But I love signings and having eye contact with a reader who already knows my soul.
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Finding the right work is like discovering your own soul in the world.
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I'm not interested in doing work that doesn't captivate me.
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I cannot face with comfort the idea of life without work; work and the free play of the imagination are for me the same thing, I take no pleasure in anything else.
Sigmund FreudRead