laziness or indolence?

February 8, 2009

Just reading my mum's old Saga magazines and came across an article
comparing indolence with laziness. As many of my pupils with learning
difficulties receive the title of 'lazy' I read on. The author
suggested that whereas laziness is absence of effort, indolence
concentrates the mind. He used a quote by Oscar Wilde to illustrate
his theory - when asked what sort of a day he'd had at work, Oscar
replied "Good thanks. In the morning I added a comma to my new poem.
In the afternoon I removed it."

Comments (1)

Feb 10, 2009

David Barnes said...

Here's a topic right up my street.

Some quotes from Samuel Johnson about idleness:

"The Idler, who habituates himself to be satisfied with what he can most easily obtain, not only escapes labours which are often fruitless, but sometimes succeeds better than those who despise all that is within their reach, and think every thing more valuable as it is harder to be acquired."

"The Idler is naturally censorious; those who attempt nothing themselves, think every thing easily performed, and consider the unsuccessful always as criminal."

"The Idler, though sluggish, is yet alive, and may sometimes be stimulated to vigour and activity. He may descend into profoundness, or tower into sublimity; for the diligence of an Idler is rapid and impetuous, as ponderous bodies forced into velocity move with violence proportionate to their weight."

"praise is not so welcome to the Idler as quiet."

-- http://www.scribd.com/doc/7868685/The-Idlers-Character-by-Samuel-Johnson

Judith’s posterous

Fans of this post

laziness or indolence?

Comments (1)

Leave a comment...