How various his employments whom the world
Calls idle; and who justly in return
Esteems that busy read more

How various his employments whom the world
Calls idle; and who justly in return
Esteems that busy world an idler too!

He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.

He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.

Indolence is the sleep of the mind.
[Fr., L'indolence est le sommeil des esprits.]

Indolence is the sleep of the mind.
[Fr., L'indolence est le sommeil des esprits.]

Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a disgrace

Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a disgrace

I don't think necessity is the mother of invention -- invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also read more

I don't think necessity is the mother of invention -- invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.

Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time,
which every day produces, and which most read more

Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time,
which every day produces, and which most men throw away, but
which nevertheless will make at the end of it no small deduction
for the life of man.

Were't not affection chains thy tender days
To the sweet glances of thy honored love,
I rather read more

Were't not affection chains thy tender days
To the sweet glances of thy honored love,
I rather would entreat thy company
To see the wonders of the world abroad
Than, living dully sluggardized at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.

There is no remedy for time misspent;
No healing for the waste of idleness,
Whose very languor read more

There is no remedy for time misspent;
No healing for the waste of idleness,
Whose very languor is a punishment
Heavier than active souls can feel or guess.

Certainly work is not always required of a man. There is such a thing as a sacred idleness - the read more

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.