Work

A few hundred years ago a German poet named Goethe took an old legend about an alchemist called Faust who sold his soul to the devil for knowledge and pleasure. The moral is always that this is a bad idea but there is an underlying story that is rarely told and that is the pleasure a person receives from the hard work it takes to achieve. In American society this benefit is recognized and referred to as the work ethic. Some younger people are looking for ways to avoid effort as a kind of easy way out. Consider two classical pianist of equal talent but who achieved their success in different ways. One practices 4 hours per day over his life time but the other made a Faustian deal and the devil waved a magic wand and he just absorbed the skill. Anyone who has ever achieved anything knows that the player who put in the effort will receive much more pleasure. Victory is the reward of hard work and hard working people know that. If you are part of the quiet quitting culture you do not understand how this hurts your self worth. These must be people who do not like work and that is a shame as they are losing out on one of the great pleasures in life.