Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form.
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
The Art of Living, ch. 8 “The Art of Growing Old” (1940) [tr. Whitall]
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Quotations about:
keeping busy
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One must work, if not out of inclination, at least out of despair. All things considered, work is far less boring than entertaining oneself.
[Il faut travailler, sinon par goût, au moins par désespoir, puisque, tout bien vérifié, travailler est moins ennuyeux que s’amuser.]Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) French poet, essayist, art critic
Journaux Intimes [Intimate Journals], “Mon cœur mis à nu [My Heart Laid Bare],” § 40 (1864–1867; pub. 1887) [tr. Sieburth (2022)]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
One must work, if not from inclination at least from despair, since, as I have fully proved, to work is less wearisome than to amuse oneself.
[tr. Isherwood (1930)]
It is necessary to work, if not from inclination, at least from despair. As it turns out, work is less boring than amusing oneself.
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One must work, if not from inclination, at least out of despair -- since it proves, on close examination, that work is less boring than amusing oneself.
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There is nothing like employment, active indispensable employment, for relieving sorrow. Employment, even melancholy, may dispel melancholy, and her occupations were hopeful.
Sorrow preys upon
Its solitude, and nothing diverts it
From its sad visions of the other world
Than calling it at moments back to this.
The busy have no time for tears.George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
The Two Foscari, Act 4, sc. 1 [Loredano] (1821)
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HARRIS: Sitting there at that moment I thought of something else Shakespeare said. He said, “Hey … life is pretty stupid; with lots of hubbub to keep you busy, but really not amounting to much.” Of course I’m paraphrasing: “Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Steve Martin (b. 1945) American comedian, actor, writer, producer, musician
L. A. Story (1991)
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