Painterly partly dismantled brass clock mechanism and loose gears on a workbench.

Original artwork, not a still

Pablo Picasso

Work is a necessity for man. Man invented the alarm clock.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

This dryly observes that labor is an unavoidable part of human life, then credits humanity's own ingenuity for creating the very device that enforces it. The remark pokes fun at the irony of inventing a mechanism specifically designed to interrupt rest and impose the demands of a working schedule.

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