"We must trust our own thinking. Trust where we're going. And get the job done."

Work

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Work as articulated by Wilma Mankiller. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Work provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Pearl Mankiller was a Native American activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, she lived on her family's allotment in Adair County, Oklahoma, until the age of 11, when her family relocated to San Francisco as part of a federal government program to urbanize Indigenous Americans. After high school, she married a well-to-do Ecuadorian and raised two daughters. Inspired by the social and political movements of the 1960s, Mankiller became involved in the Occupation of Alcatraz and later participated in the land and compensation struggles with the Pit River Tribe. For five years in the early 1970s, she was employed as a social worker, focusing mainly on children's issues.

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More by Wilma Mankiller

"In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people."

— Wilma Mankiller
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"The secret of our success is that we never, never give up."

— Wilma Mankiller
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"I don't think anybody anywhere can talk about the future of their people or of an organization without talking about education. Whoever controls the education of our children controls our future."

— Wilma Mankiller
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More about Work

"Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all... good design must primarily serve people."

— Thomas J. Watson
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"Now, everybody, I suppose, is aware that in recent years the silly business of divination by dreams has ceased to be a joke and has become a very serious science."

— Arthur Machen
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"This Congress is simply not doing its job under Republican leadership."

— Jim Cooper
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"One-third of Americans have already been forced to change their lifestyle because their disposable income is gone. A guy can't go to the corner bar after a rough day at work to have a beer, that's gone to oil!"

— Terry McAuliffe
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