Human labor is the source of all human virtue and nobility. Everything else is just being a middleman.

A man at work represents the human mind interacting directly with the universe. The worker collects data through his senses, and manipulates matter and energy with his mind and body to create structures of great beauty and complexity; structures which have a reality in that universe, and can be understood by other minds.

And I'm not just talking about manual labor. The same can be said for the artist, the scientist and even the businessman. We are not just being affected by the universe, we are affecting it back. This is very profound.

Watching a good band playing, not only their own skill with their instruments, but their collaboration with the others in the band and their interpretation of the composer, and how this communicates a shared mental state to the audience, which in turn feeds it back to them, is one of the most subtle and sophisticated of human activities.

I'd give up a great deal if I could do that.