Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Literary
October 12, 1871
Eaton Weekly Democrat
Eaton, Preble County, Ohio
What is this article about?
An essay extolling idleness as a supreme luxury, especially in holidays, advocating late sleeping for better brain function and vitality, while warning against morning reveries and emphasizing a clear conscience for true enjoyment.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
The Luxury of Loafing.
Idleness, pure and unmixed, is one of the greatest luxuries of human life. It is also a luxury peculiarly appropriate to the holiday season. On the same principle, I am very much in favor of lying in bed late of a morning. Theoretically I hold the latitudinarian principle; but practically I am a tolerably early riser. The more sleep you give the brain the better in quality the brain becomes, and the better is the energy and harmonious play of the whole system. Sleep as much as you can, and, in consequence, as late as you can, but never lie in bed after you awake, "thinking," as you are sometimes pleased to term it. It is all a mistake. It is the worst kind of debauch; as bad as dram-taking; I do not believe that there is any real quality of thought in such morning reveries. Similarly of the delights of idleness, the pleasures of the Castle of Indolence, some qualifying language must be used. I know of no greater pleasure than to saunter about for a whole day with one's hands in one's pockets, and with a steady determination to think, wait, and do nothing at all. In order to do this with proper effect, a man ought to be on tolerably good terms with his own conscience; otherwise some dark influences will begin to brew disquiet in his mind. But this idleness is a first-rate clarifying process. Without any settled, studious efforts of the mind, the subjects that had troubled you will begin to take shape and form. All kinds of matters, which have been waiting for a quiet hour of deliberation, will gradually, and almost without a conscious effort, be satisfactorily disposed of.
Moreover, your idle day, to be perfectly idle and happy, must not be haunted by the corroding recollection that there is something to be done. Such idle days are as rare as happy days, of which the Caliph could only score up eleven; and it may be that the happy day and the idle day are synonymous. I know of no greater luxury than to wake up in the morning thinking it is seven, and finding that it is nine. I always calculate on a feeling of intense vitality for that day, and an extra amount of my very limited power of doing and enduring.
An Englishman is said never to travel without an umbrella and a dressing case.
Idleness, pure and unmixed, is one of the greatest luxuries of human life. It is also a luxury peculiarly appropriate to the holiday season. On the same principle, I am very much in favor of lying in bed late of a morning. Theoretically I hold the latitudinarian principle; but practically I am a tolerably early riser. The more sleep you give the brain the better in quality the brain becomes, and the better is the energy and harmonious play of the whole system. Sleep as much as you can, and, in consequence, as late as you can, but never lie in bed after you awake, "thinking," as you are sometimes pleased to term it. It is all a mistake. It is the worst kind of debauch; as bad as dram-taking; I do not believe that there is any real quality of thought in such morning reveries. Similarly of the delights of idleness, the pleasures of the Castle of Indolence, some qualifying language must be used. I know of no greater pleasure than to saunter about for a whole day with one's hands in one's pockets, and with a steady determination to think, wait, and do nothing at all. In order to do this with proper effect, a man ought to be on tolerably good terms with his own conscience; otherwise some dark influences will begin to brew disquiet in his mind. But this idleness is a first-rate clarifying process. Without any settled, studious efforts of the mind, the subjects that had troubled you will begin to take shape and form. All kinds of matters, which have been waiting for a quiet hour of deliberation, will gradually, and almost without a conscious effort, be satisfactorily disposed of.
Moreover, your idle day, to be perfectly idle and happy, must not be haunted by the corroding recollection that there is something to be done. Such idle days are as rare as happy days, of which the Caliph could only score up eleven; and it may be that the happy day and the idle day are synonymous. I know of no greater luxury than to wake up in the morning thinking it is seven, and finding that it is nine. I always calculate on a feeling of intense vitality for that day, and an extra amount of my very limited power of doing and enduring.
An Englishman is said never to travel without an umbrella and a dressing case.
What sub-type of article is it?
Essay
What themes does it cover?
Temperance
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Idleness
Luxury
Sleep
Holiday
Conscience
Vitality
Literary Details
Title
The Luxury Of Loafing.
Subject
On The Pleasures Of Idleness During Holidays
Key Lines
Idleness, Pure And Unmixed, Is One Of The Greatest Luxuries Of Human Life.
I Know Of No Greater Pleasure Than To Saunter About For A Whole Day With One's Hands In One's Pockets, And With A Steady Determination To Think, Wait, And Do Nothing At All.
Such Idle Days Are As Rare As Happy Days, Of Which The Caliph Could Only Score Up Eleven; And It May Be That The Happy Day And The Idle Day Are Synonymous.