quotations about laziness
There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.
JANE AUSTEN
Emma
laziness is good. It is only by being lazy that we become truly efficient, and come to see what is important and what is not.
LUCY KELLAWAY
"Why 'lean in' if laziness can be just as effective?", Financial Times, February 22, 2016
My experience, both as an individual and therapist, has led me to conclude that laziness as an explanation of human behavior is practically useless. Referring to--or rather, disparaging, or even dismissing--a person as lazy seems to me a glib and overly simplistic way of accounting for a person's apparent disinterest or inertia. And resorting to this term to categorize a person's inactivity suggests to me a laziness more on the part of the describer than the person described. In short, I view this pejorative designation as employed mostly as a "default" when the person talked about is not particularly well understood.
LEON F. SELTZER
"Laziness: Fact or Fiction?", Psychology Today, June 23, 2008
Idleness buries a man alive.
JOHN THORNTON
Maxims and Directions for Youth
To the lazy man the world appears bereft of all blessings; if poor, he has no friends; if rich, he has no ambition; he aims at nothing, and generally hits his mark.
JAMES ELLIS
Evening Herald, Jan. 21, 1897
Shall we keep our hands in our bosom, or stretch ourselves on our beds of laziness, while all the world about us is hard at work, in pursuing the designs of its creation?
ISAAC BARROW
The Duty and Rewards of Industry Considered
Laziness is fatal to success.
FORBES
"Don't Be Lazy", Penn State Farmer
The path of laziness is the straightest of all paths to want and woe.
FORBES
"Don't Be Lazy", Penn State Farmer
When we are being lazy or see other people being lazy, it usually carries a negative connotation, as if the person who is being lazy is actively withholding an ability to engage in behaviors that he or she would benefit from. In Christian moral tradition, sloth is even one of the seven deadly sins. Our advice for overcoming laziness mirrors the advice of my father: "Just get over it and get to work!"
JON JACHIMOWICZ
"Laziness Is More Complex Than You Think: How a More Nuanced Approach Can Help Us Overcome Laziness When Needed", Huffington Post, May 5, 2016
Those who do the least themselves are always the severest critics upon the noble achievements of others.
ELIAS LYMAN MAGOON
Proverbs for the People
It is my greatest misfortune to be too lazy, and by the few mortifications I have already set with on that account I predict many evils in my future life. I have always the inclination to do what I ought; but by continually procrastinating for tomorrow the business of today, I insensibly delay, until at the end of one month I find myself in the same place as when I began it.
WASHINGTON ALLSTON
letter to Robert Rogers, Oct. 28, 1797
Our minds are as much given to laziness as our bodies.
LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
Moral Maxims and Reflections
Laziness is in tune with transitory time.
PIERRE SAINT-AMAND
The Pursuit of Laziness: An Idle Interpretation of the Enlightenment
We make ourselves martyrs to industriousness, and far from that being our secret advantage, it is our undoing. If only we were lazier we would do better.
LUCY KELLAWAY
"Why 'lean in' if laziness can be just as effective?", Financial Times, February 22, 2016
We have many words for laziness. Whether we call it lethargy, sloth, or idleness, the terms all similarly imply an unwillingness to work or use energy, despite having the ability to do so. Often, this happens against our better judgment. In many instances, we know that we should be engaging in different behaviors but instead either actively or passively choose not to and thus act lazy. The Greeks even went so far as to call this type of behavior "akrasia," or weakness of the will, which is reminiscent of current popular depictions of laziness.
JON JACHIMOWICZ
"Laziness Is More Complex Than You Think: How a More Nuanced Approach Can Help Us Overcome Laziness When Needed", Huffington Post, May 5, 2016
We also need to recognize that sometimes, being lazy is far from a sin. After all, isn't getting to take a deserved break why we expend effort in the first place?
JON JACHIMOWICZ
"Laziness Is More Complex Than You Think: How a More Nuanced Approach Can Help Us Overcome Laziness When Needed", Huffington Post, May 5, 2016