"... And You'll Never Work A Day In Your Life"

As part of the glorification of professional work in America, there is a saying used by people who might be benevolent or encouraging in their intentions, but they espouse something irrational.  "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life" articulates the idea that there as long as you derive pleasure from a job, it is not really work, which then can promote the false idea that work is or should be by default what people find joy in.  Enjoying work can be done without glorifying it above what its nature is, yes.  However, even aside from the issue of work as a low or high priority, there is the logical fact that professional work is always work even if you delight in it.

What some people mean by this phrase might not actually entail a contradiction on a conceptual level, and still the words themselves are so overtly, egregiously incorrect that there is no basis for using them in this manner.  A truth can be conveyed with such misleading or inaccurate language that the communication becomes irrational.  Enjoying a job can make time spent working seem shorter, more emotionally fulfilling, and even something to look forward to, yet by nature, a job is always work.  It is not someone's psychological attitude towards work that makes it what it is.  No, it is work itself and the logical necessities that ground that nature which dictate that.  Professional labor cannot be anything other than professional labor!

Now, aside from the impossibility of the literal idea behind the statement about never working a day, selecting a job with objective moral significance or subjective personal appeal truly can make the many hours of work more bearable.  That this is so desirable for any people suggests that they truly hate or fear having to work without this condition being met.  Work is objectively intrusive, often far more time-consuming than it needs to be (under American capitalism and all equivalent systems), and is very likely to never be rewarded as much as the work merits (again, at least under the likes of American capitalism).

There is no way to labor without working, but there are ways to be careful about choosing a job, although a job that is a great personal fit can still be ruined by terrible employers, long commutes, irrational coworkers, or some other secondary factor to the role itself.  There are also ways to better ensure one does not become disillusioned with what is otherwise a desired career by overworking or allowing work to take focus away from superior things.  Unfortunately, professional labor, handled the right way, is still more useful for certain ends that promote human flourishing than its absence, and tethering oneself to a worthwhile and enjoyable (and morally permissible, of course) job is ideal.