Many People DID Die Wishing They Spent More Time at the Office

It's often been claimed that "No one died wishing they spent more time at the office."

That doesn't comport with some of my friends and colleagues. But that's anecdotal so, for my PsychologyToday.com article today, I reviewed all 3,500 entries in the book: Last Words of Notable people.

While many last words are religious about their spouse or ending their pain, enough speak about wishing they could work more to dispute "No one died wishing they spent more time at the office." 

Whether or not we choose to work more, it certainly seems we should be more accepting of diversity of how people choose to live their lives rather than pathologize work-centric people as "workaholic" or "out of balance." Indeed, per my anecdotal experience and the names on the following list, many highly contributory people, already lifelong hard workers, wished they had or could work more.

Of course, people with less potential for accomplishment might well feel that work-life balance and even a bias toward "life" is wiser. 

In any event, the article offers two dozen people's last words that suggest they wish they had "spent more time at the office" or at least that work, not pleasure, relationships or spirituality, was on their mind at that final moment.