In idling, the motor's running, but you're letting your mind take in anything. Things pop into it. Those are the gifts of subterranean conscious.
Mortimer AdlerRead
Idling is important. Most people don't know how. They're afraid of it. This explains why they turn on the television set or pick up the newspaper. They think they have to be doing something.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Idling is a valuable skill that many fear, leading them to constantly seek distractions.
In this quote, Mortimer Adler emphasizes the importance of idling, suggesting that the ability to relax and do nothing is often misunderstood and undervalued. He points out that many people feel anxious about inactivity, leading them to fill their time with distractions such as television or newspapers, rather than appreciating the peace and clarity that can come from simply being still and allowing one's mind to wander.
Themes
IdlingRelaxationDistractionStillnessMindfulness
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech on work-life balance, one might quote Adler to emphasize the value of downtime.
More from Mortimer Adler
All quotes →The only standard we have for judging all of our social, economic, and political institutions and arrangements as just or unjust, as good or bad, as better or worse, derives from our conception of the good life for man on earth, and from our conviction that, given certain external conditions, it is possible for men to make good lives for themselves by their own efforts.
Mortimer AdlerRead
A good book can teach you about the world and about yourself. You learn more than how to read better; you also learn more about life. You become wiser.
Mortimer AdlerRead
If you are reading in order to become a better reader, you cannot read just any book or article. You will not improve as a reader if all you read are books that are well within your capacity. You must tackle books that are beyond you, or, as we have said, books that are over your head. Only books of that sort will make you stretch your mind. And unless you stretch, you will not learn.
Mortimer AdlerRead
In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.
Mortimer AdlerRead
If your friend wishes to read your 'Plutarch's Lives,' 'Shakespeare,' or 'The Federalist Papers,' tell him gently but firmly, to buy a copy. You will lend him your car or your coat - but your books are as much a part of you as your head or your heart.
Mortimer AdlerRead
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