We sleep, but the loom of life never stops and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up to-morrow.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it…that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
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
The personal power that comes from principle-centered living is the power of a self-aware, knowledgeable, proactive individual, unrestricted by the attitudes, behaviors, and actions of others or by many of the circumstances and environmental influences that limit other people.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
It is most important that we should keep in this country a certain leisured class. I am of the opinion of the ancient Jewish book which says “there is no wisdom without leisure.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Irish Poet, Dramatist
There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.
—Ken Blanchard (b.1939) American Author, Management Consultant
If one sheep puts its head through the gap the rest will follow.
—Irish Proverb
Compound interest is the eighth natural wonder of the world and the most powerful thing I have ever encountered.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.
—Thomas Dekker
He has hard work who has nothing to do.
—Common Proverb
Rest is a fine medicine. Let your stomachs rest, ye dyspeptics; let your brain rest, you wearied and worried men of business; let your limbs rest, ye children of toil.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Rest breeds rust.
—German Proverb
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
I rest not from my great task!
To open the Eternal Worlds,
to open the immortal Eyes of Man
Inwards into the Worlds of Thought;
Into eternity, ever expanding
In the Bosom of God,
The Human Imagination
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
So you can see that if you direct that force at several objectives, it becomes divided, and each objective receives a fairly weak stimulus, which results in a slow reaction, or no reaction at all. Do you have a great, ultimate goal to reach that requires attaining lesser objectives along the way? Well then, let the many lie inactive and direct your force at the nearest or first; once you accomplish that, take up the next and so on.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter, Writer
Rest is the sweet sauce of labor.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
How beautiful is it to do nothing, and then rest afterward.
—Common Proverb
Too much rest itself becomes a pain.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
Never make your appeal to a man’s better nature; he may not have one. Always make your appeal to his self-interest.
—Robert A. Heinlein (1907–88) American Science Fiction Writer
Certainly work is not always required of a man. There is such a thing as a sacred idleness—the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected.
—George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish Novelist, Lecturer, Poet
After climbing a great hill, one finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk has not yet ended.
—Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African Political leader
In our play we reveal what kind of people we are.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Here’s an equation I want you to remember for the rest of your life: CZ = WZ. It means your “comfort zone” equals your “wealth zone”. By expanding your comfort zone, you will expand the size of your income and wealth zone.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
In all the woods and forests, God did not create a single leaf the same as any other… People go against nature because they lack the courage to be different.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
A man’s life is interesting primarily when he has failed — I well know. For it’s a sign that he tried to surpass himself.
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) French Head of State, Physician, Publisher, Political leader
How many inner resources one needs to tolerate a life of leisure without fatigue.
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972) American Playwright, Poet, Novelist
And this activity alone would seem to be loved for its own sake; for nothing arises from it apart from the contemplating, while from practical activities we gain more or less apart from the action. And happiness is thought to depend on leisure; for we are busy that we may have leisure, and make war that we may live in peace
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
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