Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.
—Isaac Watts (1674–1748) English Hymn writer
Laziness. Unwarranted repose of manner in a person of low degree.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Shun idleness. It is a rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Laziness is the one common deficiency in mankind that blocks the establishment of a perfect world in which everyone leads a happy life.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
Idleness among children, as among men, is the root of all evil, and leads to no other evil more certain than ill temper.
—Hannah More
I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness, to save oneself trouble.
—Agatha Christie (1890–1976) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
I look upon indolence as a sort of suicide; for the man is efficiently destroyed, though the appetite of the brute may survive.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
My passions are all asleep from my having slumbered till nearly eleven and weakened the animal fiber all over me to a delightful sensation about three degrees on this sight of faintness—if I had teeth of pearl and the breath of lilies I should call it languor—but as I am I must call it laziness. In this state of effeminacy the fibers of the brain are relaxed in common with the rest of the body, and to such a happy degree that pleasure has no show of enticement and pain no unbearable frown. Neither poetry, nor ambition, nor love have any alertness of countenance as they pass by me.
—John Keats (1795–1821) English Poet
‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
Never be entirely idle; but either be reading, or writing, or praying or meditating or endeavoring something for the public good.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
Prostration is our natural position. A worm-like movement from a spot of sunlight to a spot of shade, and back, is the type of movement that is natural to men.
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957) English Novelist, Painter, Critic
Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy. Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Sloth, if it has prevented many crimes, has also smothered many virtues.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Extreme busyness, whether at school or college, kirk or market, is a symptom of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal identity.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
We seldom call anybody lazy, but such as we reckon inferior to us, and of whom we expect some service.
—Bernard Mandeville (1670–1733) Anglo-Dutch Philosopher, Satirist
If ever this free people—if this government itself is ever utterly demoralized, it will come from this incessant human wriggle and struggle for office, which is but a way to live without work.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The love of indolence is universal, or next to it.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
There is nothing worse than an idle hour, with no occupation offering. People who have many such hours are simply animals waiting docilely for death. We all come to that state soon or late. It is the curse of senility.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
Towards evening the lazy person begins to get busy.
—German Proverb
Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Some men are so lazy they won’t even feed themselves.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Idleness is many gathered miseries in one name.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
Expect poison from standing water.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
Though you may have known clever men who were indolent, you never knew a great man who was so; and when I hear a young man spoken of as giving promise of great genius, the first question I ask about him always is, “Does he work?”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Life is mostly froth and bubble. Two things stand like stone: Dodging duty at the double, leaving work alone.
—Unknown
If you ask me which is the real hereditary sin of human nature, do you imagine I shall answer pride, or luxury, or ambition, or egotism? No; I shall say indolence. Who conquers indolence will conquer all the rest. Indeed all good principles must stagnate without mental activity.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–1795) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
The present generation, wearied by its chimerical efforts, relapses into complete indolence. Its condition is that of a man who has only fallen asleep towards morning: first of all come great dreams, then a feeling of laziness, and finally a witty or clever excuse for remaining in bed.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
It is better to sit down than to stand, it is better to lie down than to sit, but death is the best of all.
—Indian Proverb