Here's to all volunteers, those dedicated people who believe in all work and no pay.

Robert Orben (1927–2023) was an American comedy writer and speechwriter known for one-line quips and aphorisms that circulated widely in joke collections, quotation anthologies, and after-dinner speaking material. This line is characteristic of his style: a toast-like setup (“Here’s to…”) followed by a punchline that gently satirizes a familiar social role. The remark is typically used in civic, nonprofit, or community settings—banquets, fundraisers, volunteer appreciation events—where it functions as affectionate humor that acknowledges the reality that volunteers contribute labor without financial compensation.

The quote is a comic salute to volunteers that simultaneously praises and teases them. On the surface it offers gratitude (“Here’s to all volunteers”), but the twist—“all work and no pay”—highlights the paradox of volunteerism: meaningful work performed without wages. Orben’s humor relies on understatement and inversion, implying that volunteers “believe” in an arrangement most people would reject, which underscores their altruism. The line can be read as both appreciation and a mild critique of how institutions depend on unpaid labor, using laughter to make the truth socially speakable.