I always got my work done before playing.

The Olympian Edwin Moses, master of the hurdles and disciplined in both mind and body, declared with simplicity and power: “I always got my work done before playing.” In this brief confession lies the essence of ancient wisdom—that discipline precedes delight, and that the path to greatness is built upon duty fulfilled before pleasure embraced. For the ancients knew that he who sows first with toil may reap later with joy, but he who seeks joy before labor will find both fleeting.

The word work here does not mean burden alone, but purpose, craft, and calling. To complete it first is to honor responsibility, to shape the self into order before giving in to leisure. The Greeks spoke of this as arete, excellence born from habit and discipline. The Romans echoed it, teaching that only after the legion marches and the duty is complete may the feast begin. Moses, in his life of relentless training, embodied this ancient law.

To place play after work is not to despise joy, but to ennoble it. For pleasure tastes sweetest when earned, and rest is most refreshing when it follows struggle. The child who plays without work squanders time, but the athlete, the scholar, the laborer who first fulfills duty finds in play a true reward, unmarred by guilt or incompleteness. Thus, Moses speaks not of denial, but of balance—the order that brings peace to both body and spirit.

This discipline was the secret of his triumphs. While others faltered in distraction, Moses stood unyielding, his victories carved not merely in the arena but in the quiet hours of preparation. To work before play is to live with foresight, to invest in tomorrow rather than spend all in the moment. It is the law of endurance, the principle that turns talent into mastery and dreams into reality.

Let this truth echo through the ages: put work before play, and your life will be built upon a foundation of strength. Duty fulfilled first is not a chain but a crown, for it frees the heart to enjoy leisure without regret. So lived Edwin Moses, and so should all who seek greatness—discipline before delight, purpose before pleasure, and in the union of both, a life of honor and lasting joy.