History Main / WorkHardPlayHard

** I dunno, rousting the terrorists out of Gulmira looked pretty fun to me.

* The late Charlie Wilson, as portrayed in ''CharlieWilsonsWar'', fell under this. Well, after he decided to get involved in Afghanistan, anyway — we see little evidence of the "work hard" before that.
* Lt. Rasczak in ''[[Film/StarshipTroopers Starship Troopers]]'' encourages this for his men. "Here's the beer! Here's the entertainment! Now, have fun - that's an order!"

* The king in DrSeuss's ''The King's Stilts''. The whole theme of the book is why only working is not emotionally healthy and causes problems in the long run.

* [[AncientRome Imperium Romanum]]: Work ethic centred around strict obedience to the ''Paterfamilias'', massive engineering projects, technology too advanced for their time, a well-sustained government, the ability to manage countless nationalities into a single Imperium that everybody else would remember as the greatest for a thousand years. The language of [[AltumVidetur Latin]] IS the official language of Law (hence why the legal career has all kinds of Latin terms, and considering the Legalistic tradition of Roman society), and the field of Science would not mind borrowing a few Latin words. Yet the Romans were, also, you know, [[EveryoneIsBi Rom]][[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy ans]].

* [[AncientRome Imperium Romanum]]: Paternalistic work ethic, massive engineering projects, technology too advanced for their time, a well-sustained government, the ability to manage countless nationalities into a single Imperium that everybody else would remember as the greatest for a thousand years. The language of [[AltumVidetur Latin]] IS the official language of Culture and ''really advanced'' Science. Yet the Romans were, also, you know, [[EveryoneIsBi Rom]][[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy ans]].

* [[AncientRome Imperium Romanum]]: Paternalistic work ethic, massive engineering projects, technology too advanced for their time, a well-sustained government, the ability to manage countless nationalities into a single Imperium that everybody else would remember as the greatest for a thousand years. The language of [[AltumVidetur Latin]] IS the official language of Culture and ''really advanced'' Science. Yet the Romans were, also, you know, [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy Romans]].

* AncientRome: Paternalistic work ethic, massive engineering projects, technology too advanced for their time, a well-sustained government, the ability to manage countless nationalities into a single Imperium that everybody else would remember as the greatest for a thousand years. Yet the Romans were, also, you know, [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy Romans]].

** Considering that [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Japan is a fan of German culture]], it is no wonder why they adopted the Work Hard Play Hard mentality of the Germans as well.

* AncientRome: Massive engineering projects, technology advanced for their time, a well-sustained government, the ability to manage countless nationalities into a single Imperium that everybody else would remember as the greatest for a thousand years. Yet the Romans were, also, you know, [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy Romans]].

* [[GermanicEfficiency Ger]][[OktoberFest many]].
** Also the Japanese, according to some. Which is sadly not the truth due to the work regimens designed specifically so it is impossible to enjoy oneself. Many Americans work more hours than their counterparts in other Western nations and take vacations less often, but once work is done for the day or week, the movie theaters, parks, local bars, beaches, sports venues, and other recreational areas flourish with customers.
** Investment traders/speculators and corporate executives are said to subscribe to this trope particularly strongly, especially during the heady days 80s and 90s (as memorialized by movies such as ''Film/WallStreet'' and ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet''). It was said that there are only two possible ways for a respectable speculator to die: overwork or drug overdose.

* In RealLife, [[GermanicEfficiency Ger]][[BestBeerEver mans]] are said to be like this.

** Investment traders/speculators are said to subscribe to this trope particularly strongly, especially during the heady days 80s and 90s (as memorialized by movies such as ''Film/WallStreet'' and ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet''). It was said that there are only two possible ways for a respectable speculator to die: overwork or drug overdose.

* The Tayledras in the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' books are explicitly stated to be this at one point. They fight horrible magic-born monstrosities and purify magically-twisted land in little scout teams... and live in little glens of eternal summer where they throw wild parties whenever they have an excuse.

** Investment bankers/speculators are said to subscribe to this trope particularly strongly.

** Investment bankers/speculators are said to subscribe to this trope particularly hard.

* ChristopherTitus described his father this way; he never missed a chance to get drunk, high, or laid, but he also never missed a day of work.

* Samantha Carter of ''StargateSG1''. She's an incredible {{workaholic}} who spends long nights and weekends working on her science stuff. The rare times we see her at home, she's building and racing motorbikes. The closest thing she has to taking a holiday is entering an alien death race.

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' WordOfGod says this is the general perception the public has of [[{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]], rather than as the usual RichIdiotWithNoDayJob he depicts himself as in other continuities.

** Also the Japanese, according to some. Which is sadly not the truth due to the work regiment designed specifically so it is impossible to enjoy oneself. Many Americans work more hours than their counterparts in other Western nations and take vacations less often, but once work is done for the day or week, the movie theaters, parks, local bars, beaches, sports venues, and other recreational areas flourish with customers.

* The declared mission statement of Hawkeye, Trapper John et al in the original ''{{MASH}}'' novel is to be such brilliant and reliable surgeons when they're on duty that they can get away with absolutely any crazy shit they feel like pulling when they're off duty. It works.

* As in the literature example above, the characters from ''{{MASH}}'' maintain a healthy level of insanity whenever they are off-duty, as a defense mechanism against the horrors of war.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAge'', the Qunari are described as this by Sten if you're friends with him by the end of the game. He compares you being declared "The Hero of Fereldan" to when a Qunari is declared ''Qunoran Vehl'', and says that they party so hard that ''executions'' are sometimes required to get everyone back in line. Of course, when they're ''not'' throwing a raucous party, the Qunari are extremely serious and efficient - Sten says he has no memory of playing when he was a child and is somewhat offended by the notion that you'd think a Qunari would waste their time with such frivolity; even childhood is merely a time for studying whatever role they will be playing in society as an adult.

** Also the Japanese, according to some. Which is sadly not the truth due to the work regiment designed specifically so it is impossible to enjoy oneself.
*** The phrase "Work hard, Play hard," could very well be the national motto of the United States. On average, most Americans work more hours than their counterparts in other Western nations and take vacations less often, but once work is done for the day or week, the movie theaters, parks, local bars, beaches, sports venues, and other recreational areas flourish with customers. We Americans generally take the attitude that we're proud to accomplish our work, but we also love to party.

** Also the Japanese, according to some.

* When the main cast of ''WesternAnimation/MaxSteel'' aren't saving the world from supervillains, they're throwing themselves into extreme sports.