Editing Work ethic (section)

{{Globalize|date=March 2025}}
{{Short description|Belief in the virtues of labor}}

'''Work ethic''' is a belief that work and [[diligence]] have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, [[virtue]] or [[Value (personal and cultural)|value]] to strengthen character and individual abilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/work-ethic.html|title=What is work ethic? definition and meaning|website=BusinessDictionary.com|access-date=18 March 2018}}</ref> Desire or determination to work serves as the foundation for values centered on the importance of work or industrious work. Social ingrainment of this value is considered to enhance [[moral character|character]] through hard work that is respective to an individual's field of work.<ref>{{cite book|author1=T. Marek|author2=W. Karwowski|author3=M. Frankowicz|author4=J. Kantola|author5=P. Zgaga|title=Human Factors of a Global Society: A System of Systems Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KyXcBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA276|year=2014|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4665-7287-4|pages=276–277}}</ref> 

In ancient Greece, work was seen as a burden, and their term for it, ''ponos'', shared its root with the Latin word ''poena'', signifying sorrow. In Hebrew, work was associated with toil, representing the laborious act of extracting sustenance from the challenging earth.<ref>{{Cite web |year=1996 |title=History of Work Ethic--1.Attitudes Toward Work During the Classical Period |url=http://workethic.coe.uga.edu/hatcp.html |access-date= |website= |publisher=University of Georgia}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Granter |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13t6BgAAQBAJ |title=Critical Social Theory and the End of Work |date=2012-12-28 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-1-4094-9187-3 |language=en}}</ref> It was viewed as a consequence of the original sin in the Adam and Eve narrative. The Bible in {{bibleref2|Genesis|3:19|NLT}} reflects this, stating that due to their transgression, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground."