Absence of occupation is not rest; a mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
Leisure is the mother of philosophy.
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) English Political Philosopher
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
Leisure only means a chance to do other jobs that demand attention.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
The end of labor is to gain leisure.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Leisure is pain; take off our chariot wheels and how heavily we drag the load of life.—It is our curse, like that of Cain; it makes us wander earth around to fly that tyrant, thought.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
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
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
Play is the exultation of the possible.
—Martin Buber (1878–1965) Austrian Jewish Theologian, Philosopher, Novelist
A hobby is hard work you wouldn’t do for a living.
—Unknown
Days of respite are golden days.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
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
Your hair may be brushed, but your mind’s untidy. You’ve had about seven hours of sleep since Friday. No wonder you feel that lost sensation. You’re sunk from a riot of relaxation.
—Ogden Nash (1902–71) American Writer of Sophisticated Light Verse
Leisure can be both a problem and a solution.
—Nathaniel LeTonnerre
When a habit begins to cost money, it’s called a hobby.
—Yiddish Proverb
Many concerns now make part or the whole of their dividends from by-products that formerly went to waste. How do we, as individuals, utilize our principal by-product? Our principal by-product is, of course, our leisure time. Many years of observation forces the conclusion that a man’s success or failure in life is determined as much by how he acts during his leisure as by how he acts during his work hours. Tell me how a young man spends his evenings and I will tell you how he is likely to spend the latter part of his life.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Rest, rest, shall I have not all eternity to rest.
—Antoine Arnauld (1612–94) French Philosopher, Lawyer, Mathematician, Theologian
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
No rest is worth anything except the rest that is earned.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Philosopher
Rest breeds rust.
—German Proverb
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
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
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
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) English Theologian, Archbishop
How beautiful is it to do nothing, and then rest afterward.
—Common Proverb
What the banker sighs for, the meanest clown may have-leisure and a quiet mind.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
How many inner resources one needs to tolerate a life of leisure without fatigue.
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972) American Playwright, Poet, Novelist
If I am doing nothing, I like to be doing nothing to some purpose. That is what leisure means.
—Alan Bennett (b.1934) British Writer, Actor, Director
Leisure is gone; gone where the spinning wheels are gone, and the pack-horses, and the slow wagons, and the peddlers who brought bargains to the door on sunny afternoons.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
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