“It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.”

“Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force. Making it illegal to pay less than a given amount does not make a worker’s productivity worth that amount—and, if it is not, that worker is unlikely to be employed.”

“Who is going to pay a day's wage to slide down a damn tongue?" -- The Chief, Swamplandia”

“I bargained with Life for a penny, and Life would pay no more, However I begged at eveningWhen I counted my scanty store;Life is a just employer. He gives you what you ask,But once you have set the wages,Why, you must bear the task.I worked for a menial's hire,Only to learn, dismayed,That any wage I had asked of Life,Life would have willingly paid”

“We try to pay a man what he is worth and we are not inclined to keep a man who is not worth more than the minimum wage.”

“Pay the hired worker his wages before his sweat dries”