It is already possible to imagine a society in which the majority of the population, that is to say, its laborers, will have almost as much leisure as in earlier times was enjoyed by the aristocracy. When one recalls how aristocracies in the past actually behaved, the prospect is not cheerful.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
The man who works 52 weeks in the year does not do his best in any one week of the year, Daniel Guggenheim, onetime head of the greatest smelting and mining family in America, impressed upon me. Real recreation quickens aspiration. The true purpose of recreation is not merely to amuse, not merely to afford pleasure, not merely to kill time, but to increase our fitness, enhance our usefulness, spur achievement.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Play is the exultation of the possible.
—Martin Buber (1878–1965) Austrian Jewish Theologian, Philosopher, Novelist
He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Put off thy cares with thy clothes; so shall thy rest strengthen thy labor; and and so shall thy labor sweeten thy rest.
—Francis Quarles (1592–1644) English Religious Poet
He that will make a good use of any part of his life must allow a large part of it to recreation.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
Cultivated leisure is the aim of man.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
We seldom enjoy leisure we haven’t earned.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b.1940) American Self-Help Author
To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has nothing else.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
A man can never be idle with safety and advantage until he has been so trained by work that he makes his freedom from times and tasks more fruitful than his toil has been.
—Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846–1916) American Essayist, Editor
One non-revolutionary weekend is infinitely more bloody than a month of permanent revolution.
—Unknown
He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Leisure and solitude are the best effect of riches, because mother of thought. Both are avoided by most rich men, who seek company and business; which are signs of their being weary of themselves.
—William Temple (1881–1944) British Clergyman, Theologian
The basis on which good repute in any highly organized industrial community ultimately rests is pecuniary strength; and the means of showing pecuniary strength, and so of gaining or retaining a good name, are leisure and a conspicuous consumption of goods
—Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929) American Economist, Social Critic
There is room enough in human life to crowd almost every art and science in it. If we pass “no day without a line”—visit no place without the company of a book—we may with ease fill libraries, or empty them of their contents. The more we do, the more busy we are, the more leisure we have.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebud, a child at play, a Divine mystery, or a waterfall.
—Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) American Catholic Religious Leader, Theologian
All intellectual improvement arises from leisure.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
How beautiful is it to do nothing, and then rest afterward.
—Common Proverb
Rest, rest, shall I have not all eternity to rest.
—Antoine Arnauld (1612–94) French Philosopher, Lawyer, Mathematician, Theologian
No one needs a vacation more than the person who just had one.
—Unknown
If you are losing your leisure, look out! You are losing your soul.
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946) American-British Essayist, Bibliophile
The rhythm of the weekend, with its birth, its planned gaieties, and its announced end, followed the rhythm of life and was a substitute for it.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American Novelist
Leisure only means a chance to do other jobs that demand attention.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
A hobby is hard work you wouldn’t do for a living.
—Unknown
Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
How many inner resources one needs to tolerate a life of leisure without fatigue.
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972) American Playwright, Poet, Novelist
In this theater of man’s life, it is reserved only for God and angels to be lookers-on.
—Pythagoras (570–495 BCE) Greek Philosopher
It is necessary to relax your muscles when you can. Relaxing your brain is fatal.
—Stirling Moss (1929–2020) English Motor-Racing Driver, Broadcaster
Rest is the sweet sauce of labor.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
Absence of occupation is not rest; a mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
They talk of the dignity of work. The dignity is in leisure.
—Herman Melville (1819–91) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist, Poet
In our play we reveal what kind of people we are.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
It should be noted that children’s games are not merely games. One should regard them as their most serious activities.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
No rest is worth anything except the rest that is earned.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
You cannot give an instance of any man who is permitted to lay out his own time, contriving not to have tedious hours.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time
—John Lubbock (1834–1913) English Politician, Biologist
Our nature consist in motion; complete rest is death.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
Spare minutes are the Gold-dust of time; the portions of life most fruitful in good and evil; the gaps through which temptations enter.
—Unknown
Rest breeds rust.
—German Proverb
You can go to doctors until the last cow has been placed in its shed. You can journey the earth in search of peace of mind. You can experiment with a dozen theories, hoping for a relief from worries, or the problems which beset you, but unless you learn to relax you will end up disappointed. Tension is a killer! Just relax and note the immediate effect. One of peace and ease of mind. One in which every organ of the body joins. In relaxation there is unity of mind, body and spirit.
—George Matthew Adams (1878–1962) American Columnist, Journalist
If you rest, you rust.
—Helen Hayes (1900–93) American Actor, Philanthropist
For too much rest becomes a pain.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
Leisure may be defined as free activity, labor as compulsory activity. Leisure does what it likes, labor does what it must, the compulsion being that of Nature, which in these latitudes leaves men no choice between labor and starvation.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The end of labor is to gain leisure.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
He has hard work who has nothing to do.
—Common Proverb
When a habit begins to cost money, it’s called a hobby.
—Yiddish Proverb
Let the world have whatever sports and recreations please them best, provided they be followed with discretion.
—Richard Burton (1925–84) Welsh Actor
Leisure: A fancy word for people who don’t want to admit they’re bored.
—Gene Perret
He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul’s estate.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher