In a very general way, our society has fallen out of love with the skilled trades. Part of the problem is a myriad of myths and misperceptions that surround the jobs themselves, but the biggest cause is our stubborn belief that a four-year degree is the best path for the most people.

Mike Rowe

I'm looking forward to the future, and feeling grateful for the past.

Mike Rowe

Work ethic is important because, unlike intelligence, athleticism, charisma, or any other natural attribute, it's a choice.

Mike Rowe

I can say the willingness to get dirty has always defined us as an nation, and it's a hallmark of hard work and a hallmark of fun, and dirt is not the enemy.

Mike Rowe

My mother's dad dropped out of the eighth grade to work. He had to. By the time he was 30, he was a master electrician, plumber, carpenter, mason, mechanic. That guy was, to me, a magician. Anything that was broken, he could fix. Anybody anywhere in our community knew that if there was a problem, Carl was there to fix it.

Mike Rowe

Boredom is a choice. Like tardiness. Or interrupting.

Mike Rowe

Happiness does not come from a job. It comes from knowing what you truly value and behaving in a way that's consistent with those beliefs.

Mike Rowe

We need to promote an ethic of work. And there's no way one guy or one company is going to be able to do it. It has to be a big hot mess - public, private, government, NGOs and smart alecks on the TV talking about it.

Mike Rowe

We've waged war on work. We have collectively agreed, stupidly, that work is the enemy.

Mike Rowe

Stop looking for the 'right' career, and start looking for a job. Any job. Forget about what you like. Focus on what's available. Get yourself hired. Show up early. Stay late. Volunteer for the scut work. Become indispensable. You can always quit later, and be no worse off than you are today.

Mike Rowe

To me, we're living in a non-linear world... But the truth is we are linear creatures. Everything unfolds one after the next. And that's the thing we've become disconnected from.

Mike Rowe

Dirt used to be a badge of honor. Dirt used to look like work. But we've scrubbed the dirt off the face of work, and consequently we've created this suspicion of anything that's too dirty.

Mike Rowe

What you do, who you're with, and how you feel about the world around you is completely up to you.

Mike Rowe

Good jobs look a lot like kids playing and adults working.

Mike Rowe

The skills gap is a reflection of what we value.

Mike Rowe

If you're trying to raise a son, it gives you a chance to say things like, 'Chop your own wood; it will warm you twice.'

Mike Rowe

'Dirty Jobs' is a fun, simple little show with huge themes under it. For me, it's penance, it's redemption, it's a sweaty mess.

Mike Rowe

We don't need American Idols. We need American icons. Icons of work.

Mike Rowe

There is a lot of stuff we can't control, but it is completely in our power to decide what the definition of what a good job is. That's up to us.

Mike Rowe

We need to tell better stories of men and women who master a trade. We have to stop telling kids to blindly follow their passion and show them the opportunities that exist. That was the big, overarching message of 'Dirty Jobs.'

Mike Rowe

'Bloody do-gooders' is my expression for people who are nicer than me, who are better than me.

Mike Rowe