It is inconceivable that humankind could exist without work. The new ethic of work starts out in the first place with the idea that work is a necessity for the human personality. (bell hooks, Feminist Theory)
This is in striking alignment with E. F. Schumacher’s Buddhist Economics. BE is a work of it’s time, and is sexist in it’s attitude that women are bound for nurturing children, but the basic ideas about work are very much in harmony with hooks here.