Idle hands do God's work?

August 7, 2004 7:36 AM

The virtue of idleness is lost upon our modern society with its Puritan work ethic. Perhaps a little idleness is good for the soul and the mind. Some would say Ben Franklin is spinning in his grave, but he also enjoyed his idle hours as much as any man, at least according to the recent biography, "Ben Franklin: An American Life" by Walter Isaacson.
posted by caddis (12 comments total)

The Idler
posted by kozad at 8:07 AM on August 7, 2004

I can't believe he didn't quote Jerome K. Jerome!
posted by rushmc at 10:05 AM on August 7, 2004

I'm a man of leisure, and a big proponent of the four hour day.

After I was laid off, I discovered that being idle and lounging about is the only true path to happiness.
posted by cmonkey at 1:18 PM on August 7, 2004

I think I've got this lifestyle nailed; I was even too lazy to read the whole article.
posted by cell at 1:34 PM on August 7, 2004

Lazyness? Or just Productive Procrastination?

TMI: This last week, my prescribing psychiatrist gave me a kind of medical absolution for my recent tendency to sleep over 9 hours a night. There's nothing more disruptive than feeling guilty about something that makes you feel better, and my productivy has increased since I stopped worrying about sleeping too much.
posted by wendell at 4:19 PM on August 7, 2004

Just don't go about writing a manifesto on it and expect to keep your job seems to be the lesson coming from France. Boo to EDF!
posted by dmt at 4:40 PM on August 7, 2004

Our modern society has a Puritan work ethic?
posted by bingo at 7:35 PM on August 7, 2004

Work is for suckers
posted by ac at 7:38 PM on August 7, 2004

In Praise of Idleness
posted by yoga at 5:18 PM on August 8, 2004

The Dude abides.
posted by NortonDC at 8:12 PM on August 9, 2004

Shabbat shalom.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:17 PM on August 9, 2004

Idleness was/is threatening to Puritain Thought, because if you took a few minutes or hours to reflect and not be busy you'd realize how stupid Puritain though is.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:37 PM on August 9, 2004