Dear brothers and sisters,

Work ethic (đạo đức lao động) is our belief that work is good for us – it strengthens our character, gives us wisdom, enhances our integrity, and bring us success.

This thinking has not been universal throughout history. In ancient Greek culture, work was seen as a burden – the word for “work” is “ponos,” equivalent of the Latin word “poena,” meaning sorrow. In ancient Jewish culture, in The Old Testament – the first half of the Christian Bible – work is called “toil/toiling,” indicating hard, tiring labor. In The Genesis – the first book of The Old Testament – after Adam & Eve ate the Forbidden Fruit, God kicked them out of the Eden Garden and told Adam: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.” (Gen 3:17). In the Vietnamese culture, what valuable is “nhàn” (leisure) as Nguyễn Công Trứ wrote in his archetypal poem “Chữ Nhàn.” And the Buddhist culture focuses on not working too hard, relaxing more. Continue reading Work ethic →