Dignity of Labor

"Two men I honour", said Carlyle, "and no third. First, the toil-worn Craftsman that with earth-made implements laboriously conquers the earth and makes it men. Venerable to me is the rugged face, all weather-tanned." When Carlyle said this, few people had any thought for the labourer or manual labour as particularly dignified. Well-to-do and educated people are so-called gentlemen, since they would avoid all contact with the toilers. To be able to get one's work done by others was counted as the most valued of gentlemanly privileges.
We all know the story of great Vidyasagar. One day a well-dressed young man, not finding any porter at a village station, called a Brahmin, clad in coarse cloth and promised him a few piece to carry his light suitcase. When they reached the destination, the youngman offered him the wages for this labour, and then the Brahmin's identity was disclosed. He was none other than Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar.
To labour with one's own hand has an ennobling influence on character. God has given us hand to work with. When Rabindranath started his school at Santiniketan, each pupil was required to wash his clothes and utensils and dust his room. How much we will gain in self-help, if we attend to our personal needs!
If we realize the place that labour occupies in human life, we will have a readier appreciation of the dignity of labour. Without labour, we would neither have our food, nor any rest. The world is what it is because of the toilsome life led by the workers in fields and factories. It is written in an ancient Jewish book.—'Every-one is wise in his work'. Without work, a city cannot be "inhabited". All works is divine and respectable.
But the worker was deprived of the fruits of his labour. In the past, he toiled so that another might enjoy. He slaved so that another might be idle as in ancient Greek Society. He came to be despised because of his poverty, and his work also was despised. In course of time, work ceased to have any