Hard work. Marcus Aurelius 6.33

Is work bad? Not if it is natural, according to Marcus Aurelius. Hard work is good, too, under the same condition. We must work hard at the tasks that nature gives us, not unnatural tasks that we invent for ourselves. Trying to escape all hard work is ultimately impossible, and the attempt will not do us good. Instead, we want to work, and work hard, at the right things.

Οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ πόνος τῇ χειρὶ οὐδὲ τῷ ποδὶ παρὰ φύσιν, μέχρις ἂν ποιῇ ὁ ποῦς τὰ τοῦ ποδὸς καὶ ἡ χεὶρ τὰ τῆς χειρός. οὕτως οὖν οὐδὲ ἀνθρώπῳ ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ παρὰ φύσιν ἐστὶν ὁ πόνος, μέχρις ἂν ποιῇ τὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· εἰ δὲ παρὰ φύσιν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐδὲ κακόν ἐστιν αὐτῷ.

Hard work is not unnatural to our hands and feet, as long as the foot does footwork while handiwork goes to the hand. In the same way, hard work is not unnatural to a human being, as long he is doing human work. If something isn't unnatural to a person, then it isn't bad for him.