81 Funny Quotes For Work (Plus When You Can Use Them)

If you’re looking to help your team members or colleagues have fun, you might consider sharing humorous quotes related to careers with them. You can communicate these quotes through a range of methods, such as emails, office bulletin boards or instant messaging channels. Giving employees the ability to laugh while at work can help lower their stress levels, strengthen professional relationships, increase engagement and boost job satisfaction.

In this article, we list 81 funny quotes for work about success, motivation and effort that you can share with your team members.

Funny quotes for work about success

Humorous quotes about success can give your colleagues a chance to laugh while feeling inspired to optimize their job performances. Here are 20 funny quotes for work related to professional success:

1. “It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2. “The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen.” — Sarah Brown

3. “Every day I get up and look through the ‘Forbes’ list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work.” — Robert Orben

4. “The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form.” — Stanley J. Randall

5. “There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?” — Kin Hubbard

6. “Education costs money. But then again, so does ignorance.” — Sir Claus Moser

7. “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” — Lily Tomlin

8. “An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.” — Niels Bohr

9. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” — Thomas Edison

10. “Experience Is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” — Tori Filler

11. “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” — Vince Lombardi

12. “If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving isn’t for you.” — Steven Wright

13. “The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.” — Joe Girard

14. “Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things.” — T.S. Eliot

15. “You never become a howling success by just howling.” — Bob Harrington

16. “Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” — Thomas Edison

17. “Every man has a right to be conceited until he is successful.” — Benjamin Disraeli

18. “Do not be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you.” — Zig Ziglar

19. “Failure is not an option—it comes bundled with the software.” — Anonymous

20. “Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.” — Ray Kroc Luck

Funny quotes about professional time

Many professionals understand the value of time management, which can make this topic a good source for humorous quotes. Here are 15 quotes about the importance of time that may prompt your colleagues to smile:

1. “I like work: It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” — Jerome K. Jerome

2. “The remaining work to finish to reach your goal increases as the deadline approaches.” — Bove’s Theorem

3. “If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved and never will achieve its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.” — Dave Barry

4. “God put me on this Earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now, I am so far behind I will never die.” — Bill Watterson

5. “Find a job you like and you add five days to every week.” — H. Jackson Brown Jr.

6. “Work is a necessity for man. Man invented the alarm clock.” — Pablo Picasso

7. “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” — Lily Tomlin

8. “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” — Douglas Adams

9. “Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we should always save some of it for tomorrow.” — Don Herold

10. “Labor Day is a holiday honoring those who work for a living. Laborious Day is a lesser known holiday honoring those who cannot stop talking about their work.” — Lemony Snicket

11. “Being under stress is like being stranded in a body of water. If you panic, it will cause you to flail around so that the water rushes into your lungs and creates further distress. Yet, by calmly collecting yourself and using controlled breathing, you remain afloat with ease.” ― Alaric Hutchinson

12. “I try to take it one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.” — Ashleigh Brilliant

13. “If each day is a gift, then I’d like to know where I can return Mondays.” — John Wagner

14. “There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full.” — Henry Kissinger

15. “Time is an illusion. Lunchtime is doubly so.” — Douglas Adams

Funny quotes about professional effort

Inspire your colleagues to optimize their efforts at work with these 17 funny quotes:

1. “Doing nothing is very hard to do … you never know when you’re finished.” — Leslie Nielsen

2. “People who never do any more than they get paid for never get paid for any more than they do.” — Elbert Hubbard

3. “If hard work is the key to success, most people would rather pick the lock.” — Claude McDonald

4. “The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” — Robert Frost

5. “People are still willing to do an honest day’s work. The problem is they want a week’s pay for it.” — Joey Adams

6. “Run your idea up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it.” — Anonymous

7. “It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind, that determines which way we will go.” — Jim Rohn

8. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” — Kevin Durant

9. “Hard work spotlights the character of people: Some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” — Sam Ewing

10. “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want something.” — Randy Pausch

11. “It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” — Howard Ruff

12. “A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job.” — Zig Ziglar

13. “Son, if you want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers.” — “The Simpsons”

14. “Ideas are like slippery fish. They seem to have a peculiar knack for getting away from us. Because of this, the creative person always has a pad and a pencil handy.” — Earl Nightingale and Robert C. Worstell

15. “I stress about stress before there’s even stress to stress about.” — Anonymous

16. “I have nothing against work, particularly when performed, quietly and unobtrusively, by someone else.” — Barbara Ehrenreich

17. “Nothing is so embarrassing as watching someone do something that you said couldn’t be done.” — Sam Ewing

Funny quotes for work about managers

If you’re a supervisor, being able to joke about management styles can help you build relationships with employees. Following are seven humorous quotes about team or company leaders:

1. “Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.” — Andy Stanley

2. “Show me a man who is a good loser and I’ll show you a man who is playing golf with his boss.” — James Patrick Murray

3. “I always try to go the extra mile at work, but my boss always finds me and brings me back.” — Anonymous

4. “By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and work 12 hours a day.” — Robert Frost

5. “Accomplishing the impossible means only the boss will add it to your regular duties.” — Doug Larson

6. “Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work.” — Earl Nightingale

7. “I told my boss two companies were after me and I needed a raise to stay at my present job. He asked which three were interested. I said the gas, electric and cable.” — Anonymous

Funny quotes about career motivation

Humor can be a good way to motivate employees to fulfill their job duties to the best of their abilities. Here are some funny quotes about motivation you might want to share:

1. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

2. “The reward for good work is more work.” — Francesca Elisia

3. “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” — Will Rogers

4. “If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.” — Betty Reese

5. “Where people aren’t having fun, they seldom produce good work.” — David Ogilvy

6. “Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly, I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” — Theodore Roosevelt

7. “The world is full of willing people; some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.” — Robert Frost

8. “The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” — Oscar Wilde

9. “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” — Rita Mae Brown

10. “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the real greats make you feel that you, too, can be great.” — Mark Twain

11. “Be like a postage stamp. Stick to a thing till you get there.” — Josh Billings

12. “Greatness does not come from taking a ‘lean back’ approach to career planning. Get out in front of opportunity—and it will come to you.” — Jocelyn K. Glei

13. “I think Smithers picked me because of my motivational skills. Everyone says they have to work a lot harder when I’m around.” — “The Simpsons”

14. “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” — Scott Adams

15. “A diamond is merely a lump of coal that did well under pressure.” — Henry Kissinger

16. “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” — Anonymous

17. “You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” — Jim Rohn

Funny quotes about specific professions

Some humorous quotes relate to certain careers or industries, such as:

1. “Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll buy a funny hat. Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you’re a consultant.” — Scott Adams

2. “Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train. Are you going 60 miles an hour, or is the train going 60 miles an hour and you’re just sitting still?” — J. Paul Getty

3. “The taxpayer—that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.” — Ronald Reagan

4. “Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.” — Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower

5. “A professor talks in someone else’s sleep.” — W.H. Auden

I hope you find this article helpful.