Labor is work that leaves no trace behind it when it is finished, or if it does, as in the case of the tilled field, this product of human activity requires still more labor, incessant, tireless labor, to maintain its identity as a “work” of man.
Mary McCarthy
Mary McCarthy (1912–1989), U.S. author, critic. repr. In On the Contrary (1961). “The Vita Activa,” New Yorker (Oct. 18, 1958).