Labor Is Honorable
b. Nedarim 49b
When R. Judah would go to the study hall he would carry a pitcher on his shoulder [to sit on], saying, “Labor is great, as it brings honor to the laborer [who performs] it.” [Similarly,] R. Simeon would carry a basket on his shoulder, saying, “Labor is great, as it brings honor to the laborer [who performs] it.”
b. Bava Batra 110a
Rav said to Rav Kahana, “Skin a carcass in the market and take payment, but do not say: ‘I am a great man and this matter is beneath me.’”
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.