Idleness

[A] man may well be condemned, not for doing something, but for doing nothing.
~ William Barclay, Ethics in a Permissive Society (1971).

You can't be idle and have things happen. Some people say, "Why have you accepted so many small parts through the years?" Well, my reply is that I try to make something out of a small role ...
~ Bill Bixby, Los Angeles Herald Examiner (1969).

Expect poison from the standing water.
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). Proverbs of Hell

[A]nd the holy Saint Bernard aforesaid saith in an epistle, when the time shall come that it shall behove us to render and give accounts of our idle time, what reason may we render or what answer shall we give when in idleness is none excuse; and Prosper saith that whosoever liveth in idleness liveth in manner of a dumb beast ... and because I have seen the authorities that blame and despise so much idleness, and also know well that it is one of the capital and deadly sins much hateful unto God, therefore I have concluded and firmly purposed in myself no more to be idle, but will apply myself to labour and such occupation as I have been accustomed to do.
~ William Caxton, Prologue to Golden Legend. First Edition (1483)

Shun idleness.
~ William Hart Coleridge (Bishop of Barbados), An Address To Young Persons After Confirmation (1829).

Defer not till to-morrow to be wise,
To-morrow's sun to thee may never rise.
~ William Congreve, Letter to Cobham

Absence of occupation is not rest,
A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Retirement

An idler is a watch that wants both hands,
As useless if it goes as if it stands.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Retirement

How various his employments, whom the world
Calls idle, and who justly in return
Esteems that busy world an idler too!
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book III. The Garden

I sing the Sofa.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book I. The Sofa

In idle wishes fools supinely stay;
Be there a will, -- and wisdom finds a way.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book VI. The Winter Walk At Noon

Me, therefore, studious of laborious ease,
Not slothful, happy to deceive the time,
Not waste it, and aware that human life
Is but a loan to be repaid with use.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book III. The Garden

Our wasted oil unprofitably burns,
Like hidden lamps in old sepulchral urns.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Conversation

[T]hou bustler in concerns
Of little worth, an idler in the best.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book VI. The Winter Walk At Noon

I, dressed in my idle dreams,
Will think myself the king of men.
~ William Henry (W.H.) Davies, from Farewell to Poesy (1910). The Sluggard

The inert mind is a greater danger than the inert body, for it overlays and stifles the desire to live.
~ (William) Robertson Davies, The Cunning Man (1994).

Apoplexic, and Lethargie,
As forlorn hope, assault the enemy.
~ Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, Divine Weekes and Workes (1578).

Beware of the man who will not engage in idle conversation; he is planning to steal your walking stick or water your stock.
~ William Emerson, in Newsweek magazine (29 October 1973).

The heart of standing is you cannot fly.
~ William Empson, in Life and Letters Today (Winter 1937). Aubade

[I]dleness breeds all our virtues.
~ William Faulkner, The Wild Palms (1939).

It's always the idle habits you acquire which you will regret.
~ William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (October 1929). June Second, 1910

The laziest man I ever met put popcorn in his pancakes so they would turn over by themselves.
~ W.C. Fields, Attributed

Idleness is always wishing to laugh.
~ William Byron Forbush, Manual of Play (1914). X. Laughter Plays

Dozing away the hot and tedious noon,
With fitful twitter, sadly out of tune.
~ William Davis Gallagher, from Selections from the Poetical Literature of the West (1841). August

The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.
~ William Lloyd Garrison, from The Liberator. Vol. I, No. 1 (1 January 1831). To the Public

Every human being must have some object to engage his attention, excite his wishes, and rouse him to action, or he sinks, a prey to listlessness.
~ William Gaston, Address Delivered Before The Philanthropic And Dialectic Societies, at Chapel Hill NC (20 June 1832).

In open idleness we live,
With lyre and lute
And silver flute,
The life of Lazyland!
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert, Utopia, Limited; or, The Flowers of Progress (1893).

The House of Peers, throughout the war,
Did nothing in particular,
And did it very well.
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert, Iolanthe (1882 opera). Lord Mountararat

No one is idle, who can do any thing.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

I don't know why I even care, we get so high and get nowhere.
~ Billy Joel

Every part of the day should be allotted to a particular occupation, and this distribution should be rigidly adhered to.
~ Sir William Jones

Everybody wants to go from A to B sitting down.
~ William S. Knudsen

Crush out the jest of idle minds,
That know not, jesting, when to hush.
~ William Douw (W.D.) Lighthall, from Thoughts, Moods and Ideals (1887). National Anthem

There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do -- and not doing it.
~ Mary Wilson Little, from Reveries of a Paragrapher (1897). Solemn Thoughts

Come, then, let us cast off fooling, and put by ease and rest,
For the Cause alone is worthy till the good days bring the best.
~ William Morris, from Poems by the Way (1891). The Day is Coming

Of Heaven or Hell I have no power to sing,
I cannot ease the burden of your fears,
Or make quick-coming death a little thing,
Or bring again the pleasure of past years,
Nor for my words shall ye forget your tears,
Or hope again for aught that I can say,
The idle singer of an empty day.
~ William Morris, from The Earthly Paradise (1868-70). An Apology. Stanza 1

The stagnant life becomes corrupt, and acts as a corrupter of others.
~ William Stainton Moses (as M.A. Oxon), Spirit Teachings (1883). Section XXXI.

By far the most dangerous foe we have to fight is apathy -- indifference from whatever cause, not from a lack of knowledge, but from carelessness, from absorption in other pursuits, from a contempt bred of self satisfaction.
~ William Osler, in Journal of the American Medical Association (5 August 1905). Unity, Peace and Concord (originally, A Farewell Address to the Medical Profession of the United States; 1903)

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
~ Will Rogers

By and by is easily said.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act III, scene ii

I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it.
~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Act II, scene iv

That sir which serves and seeks for gain,
And follows but for form,
Will pack when it begins to rain,
And leave thee in the storm.
~ William Shakespeare, King Lear. Act II, scene iv

There are a sort of men whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act I, scene i

True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy.
~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Act I, scene iv

Why should a man whose blood is warm within,
Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster?
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act I, scene i

A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
~ William Shedd

There are some people in the world who, still thinking what they shall do, do nothing because of their thinking.
~ William Gilmore Simms, Egeria: Or, Voices of Thought and Counsel for the Woods and Wayside (1853).

And you, whiner, who wastes your time
Dawdling over the remorseless earth,
What evil, what unspeakable crime
Have you made your life worth?
~ William De Witt (W.D.) Snodgrass, from After Experience: Poems and Translations (1968). After Experience Taught Me

Never allow yourself to be idle, when your health and circumstances will permit you to be employed.
~ William Buell Sprague, Letters On Practical Subjects, From A Clergyman Of New-England, To His Daughter (1822). Letter XX: Improvement of Time

The right to laziness is one of the rights that sensible humanity will learn to consider as something self-evident. For the time being we are still in conflict with ourselves.
~ Wilhelm Stekhel, The Depths of the Soul (1921).

The natural law of inertia: Matter will remain at rest or continue in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force.
~ William (W.) Clement Stone

Life is full of half done things.
~ William A. "Billy" Sunday

Idleness is the mother of vice, and it is a sadly suggestive fact that a man is commonly either made or marred for life by the use which he makes of his leisure time.
~ William Mackergo Taylor, David, King of Israel: His Life and Its Lessons (1874). Chapter II: Medicinal Music

"If" is the motto of the dilettante
And idle dreamer, 'tis the poor excuse
Of mediocrity.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Then arise, O idle dreamer! Dreams are sweet,
But better flowers are growing at your feet.
If you crush, or pass unheeding, idle friend,
You shall answer for their ruin in the end.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Drops of Water (1872). Arise

Laziness has many disguises. Soon "winter doldrums" will become "spring fever."
~ Bern Williams, in the National Enquirer.

Don't loaf 'round de corners an' 'pend on de Lord fuh yo' daily bread. De Lord ain't runnin' no bakery.
~ Egbert Austin "Bert" Williams

I just wanted to capture the feeling you get on a summer day when you're drunk and you're rolling about on the grass with the person you love next to you.
~ Robbie Williams

There are hazards in anything one does but there are greater hazards in doing nothing.
~ Shirley Williams

Subtle, clever brain, wiser than I am,
by what devious means do you contrive
to remain idle? Teach me, O master.
~ William Carlos Williams, from Sour Grapes (1921). Play

I deem it true philosophy in him
Whose path is in the rude and busy world,
To loiter with these wayside comforters.
~ Nathaniel Parker (N.P.) Willis, from Melanie, and other Poems (1835). Part III. Roaring Brook

It's awfully dangerous really for people with brains to have money and good looks. They're practically born to waste their talents.
~ Angus Wilson, Anglo-Saxon Attitudes (1956).

But how can He expect that others should
Build for him, sow for him, and at his call
Love him, who for himself will take no heed at all?
~ William Wordsworth, from Poems in Two Volumes, Volume I (1807). Resolution and Independence

[S]pirits overwrought
Were making night do penance for a day
Spent in a round of strenuous idleness.
~ William Wordsworth, The Prelude (1850 edition). Book IV: Summer Vacation

I choose a pleasant life
Among indolent meadows;
Wisdom must live a bitter life.
~ William Butler Yeats, from The Wild Swans at Coole (1917). At The Hawk's Well: A Play