“Often, the things that a lot of work has gone into have been incredibly bad because they're over-worked.” Quote by Tom Hodgkinson
“What I've found in working less is you start to get a bit more involved in the more real politics, which is local politics that affect what's going on in your own community.” RealFoundBitsCommunityInvolvedLocalsReal Politics Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“We have an idea that if something we're doing isn't actually earning money, or spending it, then it's completely worthless. But if you start to work less, you can actually start to give more to society, but on a local level.” IfsGivingIdeasLevelsSpendingLocalsEarningWorthlessEarning Money Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“The idea of a government is to create an ordered, willing work force where there's no trouble. I think idlers are generally seen as potentially dangerous because they're asking questions.” ThinkingIdeasGovernmentForceTroubleDangerousWillingAskingAsking QuestionsIdlers Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“I like the idea of becoming [fairly] good at lots of things rather than very good at just one thing. So it would be nice to be okay at the guitar or at the piano, a reasonable cook, perhaps able to fix your car or do some basic carpentry, and be able to write the odd article. Rather than being super good at one tiny thing, to be kind of average at lots of things. It might mean that you have a more kind of enjoyable, complete life.” WritingKindMeanIdeasMightWould BeAbleNiceOne ThingCarBecomingOkayGuitarVery GoodAverageTinyCooksOddPianoJust OneReasonableBe KindArticlesBeing NiceEnjoyableCarpentryTiny ThingsComplete Life Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“Little things like making clothes, baking bread, cooking, even useless things like bird-watching, sketching flowers, playing guitar in the home - that sort of time is gone. And the time we have? We're so exhausted, we want to let ourselves get sucked in to the escape world of TV. I'm speaking from experience; I'm not above all this.” WorldWantLittlesHomeGoneFlowerTvsClothesBirdCookingGuitarBreadUselessLittle ThingsExhaustedBakingPlaying GuitarSketchingUseless ThingsBird WatchingBaking Bread Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“I don't put much faith in the political system because it's a question of how are you going to run capitalism, not how are we going to develop a different system to capitalism.” DifferentRunningPoliticalCapitalismPolitical Systems Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“Part of this individualism is you feel this pressure that you alone have to conquer the world, and if you don't work all the hours God gives then you start feeling really guilty. If you can stop feeling guilty, then I think it's easier to start doing what you want to do.” IfsThinkingWorldWantGivingFeelsFeelingsHoursEasierPressureWhat You WantGuiltyConquerIndividualismConquer The WorldFeeling GuiltyDoing What You Want Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“The way to stop feeling guilty is to read stuff - I'm not saying my book, but works by Bertrand Russell or Oscar Wilde, people who weren't losers but who didn't believe in the work ethic, and argued this thing about guilt or wrote philosophy about idleness.” PeopleWayBelieveBookPhilosophyFeelingsStuffEthicsGuiltGuiltyLoserOscarsWork EthicIdlenessWildeFeeling Guilty Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“There are a lot of little tricks you can do to inject a bit more time into the day. Most important is limiting yourself to a 40 hour week, not working 50 hours or 60 or 70. It's just crazy. It's actually irresponsible to you and irresponsible to your family and friends. Why should your employer's profits be more important than your own family? You're not even going to get any of the profits - all you get is not losing your job. It's a very negative system.” ShouldLittlesImportantJobsBitsCan DoHoursWeekCrazyLosingNegativeProfitTricksOur FamilyMore TimeFamily And FriendsEmployersIrresponsibleLimiting Yourself Author:Tom Hodgkinson
“Writing a book is a brilliant thing because once you've finished it, you've done it, and there's the potential for it to go on earning you a living without you doing any more work on it. It's absolutely ideal for an idler.” WritingBookDoneGoes OnIdealsFinishedBrilliantEarningWithout YouWriting A BookIdlers Author:Tom Hodgkinson