Hates job but does it damn well anyway.
December 12, 2009 7:31 AM Subscribe
Famous people who disliked or even hated a big part or all aspects of their job?
It's generally understood that to achieve something great, you have to love your work. But are there examples where this wasn't the case? Off the top of my head I can think of Richard Nixon achieving the highest level of a political career, yet he hated people. Any other examples where a desire for success (fame, power, money) overwrote their dislike for their job? I don't care what field or how famous the person was, I'm just trying to see how many examples of this there are out there.
It's generally understood that to achieve something great, you have to love your work. But are there examples where this wasn't the case? Off the top of my head I can think of Richard Nixon achieving the highest level of a political career, yet he hated people. Any other examples where a desire for success (fame, power, money) overwrote their dislike for their job? I don't care what field or how famous the person was, I'm just trying to see how many examples of this there are out there.
Mother Theresa struggled with her faith in God.
posted by availablelight at 7:53 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by availablelight at 7:53 AM on December 12, 2009
Act Three. The Homesick Explorer.
This American Life contributor Sarah Vowell tells the story of a mapmaker named Charles Preuss who charted the Western Territories with two of American history's legendary explorers—John Charles Fremont and Kit Carson. The maps Preuss made were best sellers and helped open the Western frontier to settlement. But, as he wrote in the diary he kept while in the wilderness, he hated pretty much every minute of the expedition. Actor Dermot Mulroney reads excerpts from Preuss's diary.
posted by The Whelk at 7:54 AM on December 12, 2009
Hunter Thompson may not have cared too much for writing after a while: "I've always considered writing the most hateful kind of work. I suspect it's a bit like fucking, which is only fun for amateurs. Old whores don't do much giggling."
posted by dilettante at 8:03 AM on December 12, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by dilettante at 8:03 AM on December 12, 2009 [5 favorites]
Mark Twain had a love/hate relationship with public speaking, which was how he made his money.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 8:21 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 8:21 AM on December 12, 2009
Lincoln didn't like the stress of the presidency.
posted by dfriedman at 8:32 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by dfriedman at 8:32 AM on December 12, 2009
Marlon Brando hated acting. And his signature characters.
posted by effluvia at 8:36 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by effluvia at 8:36 AM on December 12, 2009
With about the same level of readability as to what he was actually thinking as Hunter Thompson's thing, Bukowski said something about how you should only associate with people who had no interest in the kind of art your pursue. I can't find the quote easily, but he elaborated, suggesting to me that he didn't hate writing so much as all publishers, critics, and readers.
Also, I read somewhere that the blond Twilight vampire guy hates the series and the character he plays.
posted by cmoj at 8:53 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
Also, I read somewhere that the blond Twilight vampire guy hates the series and the character he plays.
posted by cmoj at 8:53 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
Alec Baldwin frequently mentions his hatred of the bulk of his roles and has generally expressed displeasure with his life.
posted by orville sash at 8:57 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by orville sash at 8:57 AM on December 12, 2009
The lead singer of "A Flock Of Seagulls" hates their hit song "I Ran" (they apparently still make appearances). [source: The 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s, VH-1]
posted by user92371 at 10:20 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by user92371 at 10:20 AM on December 12, 2009
Charles Dickens definitely hated his first job in a blacking warehouse, and reports are mixed on how he felt about his next significant job as a junior clerk at Grays Inn. He used these experiences in a number of novels.
posted by bearwife at 12:05 PM on December 12, 2009
posted by bearwife at 12:05 PM on December 12, 2009
To quote from a book called Answering Your Call:
"Truman's life was filled with great examples of feeling a call. When asked in his retirement which political job he had wanted the most, he answered simply: none. He had never wanted any of the jobs he had ended up serving in, including the most daunting of them all, President."
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:31 PM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
"Truman's life was filled with great examples of feeling a call. When asked in his retirement which political job he had wanted the most, he answered simply: none. He had never wanted any of the jobs he had ended up serving in, including the most daunting of them all, President."
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:31 PM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
Read the text of this lecture by Richard Hamming. He addresses this topic about a quarter of the way in, beginning with "What most people think are the best working conditions, are not."
posted by limeonaire at 5:38 PM on December 12, 2009
posted by limeonaire at 5:38 PM on December 12, 2009
Orson Scott Card dislikes the "general fiction" he writes (and has gotten success from writing...)
He just wants to write his mormon stories.
posted by filmgeek at 11:03 AM on December 13, 2009
He just wants to write his mormon stories.
posted by filmgeek at 11:03 AM on December 13, 2009
Ian Curtis eventually did not like being in Joy Division (at least that's the impression the movie Control gave me).
The kid who played Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory did not like his one movie role experience, and ended up becoming a veterinarian.
posted by 4ster at 6:51 PM on December 13, 2009
The kid who played Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory did not like his one movie role experience, and ended up becoming a veterinarian.
posted by 4ster at 6:51 PM on December 13, 2009
John Garner supposedly said the Vice Presidency was "not worth a bucket of warm piss."
posted by chris p at 8:19 PM on December 13, 2009
posted by chris p at 8:19 PM on December 13, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by availablelight at 7:51 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]