"One who works for his own profit is likely to work hard. One who works for the use of others, without profit to himself, is likely not to work any harder than he must"
About this Quote
The subtext is an attack on collectivist economics without having to name it. “Works for the use of others” is carefully loaded phrasing: it evokes state planning, high taxation, and forced redistribution, casting them as schemes that sever the link between labor and reward. The line “any harder than he must” isn’t just descriptive; it’s accusatory. It implies laziness isn’t a character flaw but a rational response to systems that dilute personal gain. That insinuation is effective because it flatters the reader’s realism: you’re not cynical, you’re honest.
Context matters. Reece was a mid-century Republican congressman, coming of age during the New Deal’s expansion of federal power and speaking into the early Cold War, when “incentives” and “free enterprise” were ideological weapons against Soviet-style planning. His quote compresses that era’s economic anxiety into a work-ethic parable: protect profit, or watch productivity sag.
What makes it work rhetorically is its asymmetry. It grants the profit-seeker a full interior life (ambition, drive) while denying the public-minded worker the possibility of pride, duty, or solidarity. That omission isn’t accidental; it narrows the moral imagination so that markets look like realism and the alternative looks like coercion dressed up as virtue.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work Ethic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Reece, B. Carroll. (n.d.). One who works for his own profit is likely to work hard. One who works for the use of others, without profit to himself, is likely not to work any harder than he must. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/one-who-works-for-his-own-profit-is-likely-to-138200/
Chicago Style
Reece, B. Carroll. "One who works for his own profit is likely to work hard. One who works for the use of others, without profit to himself, is likely not to work any harder than he must." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/one-who-works-for-his-own-profit-is-likely-to-138200/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"One who works for his own profit is likely to work hard. One who works for the use of others, without profit to himself, is likely not to work any harder than he must." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/one-who-works-for-his-own-profit-is-likely-to-138200/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
