Work & Career: Quitting Job Quotes

Explore a curated collection of quotes about quitting a job, capturing the courage, clarity, and planning behind a thoughtful exit. These voices reflect on timing, self-worth, and the tradeoffs of change, helping you weigh options with perspective. Find concise lines that validate difficult decisions, highlight boundaries, and inspire professional pivots. Whether preparing for a transition, recovering after a resignation, or simply seeking motivation to chart a new direction, these quotes offer grounded encouragement for choosing growth without regret.

Similar topics:Career New Job Work Work Ethic Work-Life Balance

"Technically, at this point we're no longer with the label; we've fulfilled our contract"

Peter Steele, Musician

Peter Steele

"No, when I worked as an accountant, I was falling asleep waiting for 5 o'clock"

Heston Blumenthal, Chef

Heston Blumenthal

"I made the decision to come back to New York, quit my job, and move to Paris"

Ed Bradley, Journalist

"Cessation of work is not accompanied by cessation of expenses"

Cato the Younger, Politician

Cato the Younger

"People may take a job for more money, but they often leave it for more recognition"

Bob Nelson, Writer

"That's why I had to leave Hair on Broadway, because I did it for about a year, and one night I was doing the show, and I realized, well, this is not real. I told the director. He says, man, it was a killer show tonight!"

Barry McGuire, Musician

"I was working at a phone company. I got tired of my life and wanted to change it, so I did"

Chi McBride, Actor

Chi McBride

"I have been determined for the past couple of years to move away from all those holiday programmes"

Jill Dando, Journalist

Jill Dando

"Actually, I only left twice. I left then, and then rejoined literally two years later for Going For The One"

Rick Wakeman, Musician

Rick Wakeman

"If your company has a clean-desk policy, the company is nuts and you're nuts to stay there"

Tom Peters, Businessman

Tom Peters

"Larry Crowne is about as bummed out a human being as one can be when he loses his job. What he is able to enjoy is something that may not be available to everybody. But it's about the value of being willing to get and willing to give good advice"

Tom Hanks, Actor

Tom Hanks

"Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It's a bum's life. Quitting acting, that's the sign of maturity"

Marlon Brando, Actor

"I quit my job just to quit. I didn't quit my job to write fiction. I just didn't want to work anymore"

Don DeLillo, Novelist

"They understood why I left ER. It wasn't just about a guy"

Sherry Stringfield, Actress

"I sort of kept my hand in writing and went to work for the Sierra Club in '52, walked the plank there in '69, founded Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters after that"

David R. Brower, Environmentalist

"I decided to retire from show business at the age of 17, because I didn't like it a bit"

Shirley Bassey, Musician

"It sounds mercenary and it smacks of rats leaving the sinking ship. But get real, when everyone is bailing out, you don't want to be the last man standing"

Robbie Fowler, Athlete

"I reached that day that I always thought might happen, where I say to myself I don't want to do this anymore. I'm looking for some stability. I want to stay home"

Joe Mantegna, Actor

Joe Mantegna

"I could finally quit my job as a bartender and stop dreaming that I might be Superman and know that I was. Then I started thinking about how cool it was"

Brandon Routh, Actor

"A month after the scandal broke, I tried to go back to work at the pharmaceutical company after a leave of absence. But because of all the publicity and resulting pressure and stress, I finally resigned"

Donna Rice, Celebrity

"Iron Maiden is an institution, and I'm delighted that I'm involved in it, but there was a time that I wasn't delighted, so I quit"

Bruce Dickinson, Musician

"If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work"

Kahlil Gibran, Poet

Kahlil Gibran

"Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance"

Donald Rumsfeld, Politician

Donald Rumsfeld

"If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it"

Ray Bradbury, Writer

Ray Bradbury

"When I left 20th Century-Fox to freelance, my agent believed that getting big money was the way to establish real importance in our industry"

Loretta Young, Actress

Loretta Young

"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"

William J. Clinton, President

William J. Clinton

"I'm done in this business, that's for sure"

Marc Wallice, Actor

Marc Wallice

"It may be, however, that I am too much wedded to my own views in the matter, and as I have spent nearly eight years of the hardest work of my life in this department, I respectfully request that I may now be relieved from its command"

George Crook, Soldier

"Like what you do, if you don't like it, do something else"

Paul Harvey, Journalist

"We're still here trying to get the word out that 330 farmers are quitting every week"

Willie Nelson, Musician

"Since the Puffy Combs case in New York, I will not try any more criminal cases"

Johnnie Cochran, Lawyer

"Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined"

Johnny Carson, Comedian

Johnny Carson

"When I was 19, I made my first good week's pay as a club musician. It was enough money for me to quit my job at the factory and still pay the rent and buy some food. I freaked!"

Billy Joel, Musician

"It's like all the signs were telling me that I shouldn't be a boxer, so I quit"

Olivier Martinez, Actor

Olivier Martinez

"I quit after a bad car accident. The thing about boxing is that you can be a star for five or six years, but when you go back to the old life, it's tough"

Olivier Martinez, Actor

Olivier Martinez

"I stopped working a few years ago because I just lost a spark that I'd had before. I thought I'd just try writing, and maybe start directing, but I did it very quietly"

Dustin Hoffman, Actor

"If you join government, calmly make your contribution and move on. Don't go along to get along; do your best and when you have to - and you will - leave, and be something else"

Peggy Noonan, Writer

Peggy Noonan

"I wanted to live the life, a different life. I didn't want to go to the same place every day and see the same people and do the same job. I wanted interesting challenges!"

Harrison Ford, Actor

"I wrote several articles criticizing psychoanalysis, but the analysts weren't listening to my objections. So I finally quit after practicing it for six years"

Albert Ellis, Psychologist

"Many psychoanalysts refused to let me speak at their meetings. They were exceptionally vigorous because I had previously been an analyst and they were very angry at my flying the coop"

Albert Ellis, Psychologist

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