Just as there are no little people or unimportant lives, there is no insignificant work.

The line links human dignity to the dignity of labor. By pairing “no little people or unimportant lives” with “no insignificant work,” it argues that work derives its worth from the inherent value of the person doing it and from its place in a web of social dependence. The statement pushes back against hierarchies that treat certain jobs as beneath notice, suggesting that such contempt is ultimately contempt for people. In a moral register associated with human-rights thinking, it implies that respect, fair treatment, and ethical attention should extend across all forms of work—domestic, manual, clerical, or professional—because each contributes to sustaining lives and communities.