Not a day’s work in all my life. What I have done I have done, because it has been play.

The line comes from a 1905 New York Times magazine interview with Mark Twain (“Mark Twain: A Humorist’s Confession”). In the interview, Twain insists he has never done a day of “work” because the things he chose to do felt like play; he contrasts self-chosen, intrinsically motivated activity with burdensome labor done out of necessity or mismatch.

Twain is arguing that when someone’s efforts align with their own interests and talents, the experience can feel playful rather than like drudgery. He uses this to suggest that what people call “great work” often comes from enthusiasm and engagement, not from grim endurance.

“No, Sir, not a day’s work in all my life. What I have done I have done, because it has been play. If it had been work I shouldn’t have done it.”