A man who acknowledges his appointment to labor will naturally
strive towards that rotation of labor which is peculiar to him, for
the satisfaction of his inward requirements; and he can alter this
labor in no other way than when he feels within himself an
irresistible summons to some exclusive form of labor, and when the
demands of other men for that labor are expressed.

The character of labor is such, that the satisfaction of all a man's
requirements demands that same succession of the sorts of work which
renders work not a burden but a joy. Only a false creed, [Greek
text which cannot be reproduced], to the effect that labor is a
curse, could have led men to rid themselves of certain kinds of
work; i.e., to the appropriation of the work of others, demanding
the forced occupation with special labor of other people, which they
call division of labor.

We have only grown used to our false comprehension of the regulation
of labor, because it seems to us that the shoemaker, the machinist,
the writer, or the musician will be better off if he gets rid of the
labor peculiar to man. Where there is no force exercised over the
labor of others, or any false belief in the joy of idleness, not a
single man will get rid of physical labor, necessary for the
satisfaction of his requirements, for the sake of special work;
because special work is not a privilege, but a sacrifice which man
offers to inward pressure and to his brethren.

The shoemaker in the country, who abandons his wonted labor in the
field, which is so grateful to him, and betakes himself to his
trade, in order to repair or make boots for his neighbors, always
deprives himself of the pleasant toil of the field, simply because