Idleness | AdventAI

California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists · Oakland, Cal. · Feb 25, 1875

Idleness.

MANY young people think an idle life must be a pleasant one, but there are none who enjoy it so little and are such burdens to themselves as those who have nothing to do. Those who are obliged to work hard all day enjoy their short period of rest and recreation so much that they are apt to think that if their whole life were spent in rest and recreation it would be the most pleasant of all. But this is a sad mistake, as they would find out if they made a trial of the life they think so agreeable. One who is never busy can never enjoy rest, for rest implies relief from previous labors; and if our whole life were spent in amusing ourselves, we should find it more wearisome than the hardest day's work. Recreation is only valuable as it unbends us; the idle can know nothing of it. Many people leave off business and settle down to a life of enjoyment, but they generally find that they are not nearly so happy as they were before, and are often glad to return to their old occupation to escape the miseries of indolence.