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Description edit
From the founding editor of The Idler , the celebrated magazine about the freedom and fine art of doing nothing, comes not simply a book, but an antidote to our work-obsessed culture. In How to Be Idle , Tom Hodgkinson presents his learned yet whimsical argument for a new universal standard... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Quotes edit
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“pp. 26-7: In his great essay "The Soul of Man under Socialism" (1891), Oscar Wilde pointed out the absurdity of the idea of full employment: "It is to be regretted that a portion of our community should be practically in slavery, but to propose to solve the problem by enslaving the entire community is childish."”
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“p. 27: We need to be responsible for ourselves; we must create our own republics. Today we hand over our responsibility to the boss, to the company, to government., and then blame them when everything goes wrong."”
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“pp. 30-1 To the bureaucrat, the man of business, there is nothing more offensive than the idea that the potentially productive citizens are prone, inactive, staring at the ceiling, while he is bustling away doing something "useful," like inventing new ways to sell popcorn to the masses or delivering summonses for non-payment of parking fines. Inaction appalls him; he cannot understand it; it frightens him.”
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“p. 149-150 My own theory is that the world is divided into two types; the idle and the anti-idle./ The anti-idle I hereby christen "botherers." Botherers are people who simply cannot help interfering in other people's lives. They lack imagination, believe in hard work, exploitation and hypocrisy, and make perfect politicians, bureaucrats and fat cats. They want to make something happen, but they don't really care what it is. They impose their beliefs on others by force of law, coercion and newspapers, and justify their actions by saying that they have created jobs, or cut costs, or increased spending or made profits for their shareholders. "Something must be done!" is their motto. And they do things, like building skyscrapers, call-centres, dams and motorways, but they also love to interfere in the plans of others - denying planning permission to increase the window size of an old barn by an inch, for example. What is worse is that the botherers, not content with doing things th”
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“p. 150 "The modern state," wrote C.S. Lewis in 1958, "exists not to protect our rights but to do us good or make us good- anyway, to do something to us or make us do something."”
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“p. 151 "Most of the world's troubles seem to come from people who are too busy," wrote Evelyn Waugh. "If only politicians and scientists were lazier, how much happier we would all be."”
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“p. 157 Or as Quentin Crisp told the NME in 1981:"Fashion is never having to decide who you are. Style is deciding who you are and being able to perpetuate it."”
Quentin Crisp -
“p. 160 "Deference to a former age is not necessarily mere nostalgia and escapism; it can also be a conscious rejection of the values of consumerism and the feeling of being victimized by the constant search for "the latest thing."”
First Sentence edit
I wonder if that hard-working American rationalist and agent of industry Benjamin Franklin knew how much misery he would cause in the world when, back in 1757, high on puritanical zeal, he popularized and promoted the trite and patently untrue aphorism "early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise"?
Authors & Contributors edit
- Tom Hodgkinson (Author)
Subjects edit
- Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › British › Humor
- Books › Entertainment › Humor › Self-Help & Psychology
- Books › Entertainment › Humor › Satire
- Books › Entertainment › Humor › Satire, General
- Books › Entertainment › Humor › Parodies
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