35 quotes about Laziness

The sluggard does not plow after the season, so he begs during the harvest and has nothing. [Proverbs 20:4]

— Bible

Some men are so lazy they won't even feed themselves.

— Bible

If a man will not work, he shall not eat.

— Bible

He also who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys. [Proverbs 18:9]

— Bible

Laziness. Unwarranted repose of manner in a person of low degree.

— Bierce, Ambrose

I slip from workaholic to bum real easy.

— Broderick, Matthew

Laziness grows on people; it begins in cobwebs and ends in iron chains. The more one has to do, the more he is able to accomplish.

— Buxton, Thomas

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.

— Caplan, Mortimer

Laziness never arrived at the attainment of a good wish.

— Cervantes, Miguel De

A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.

— Connolly, Cyril

A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.

— Franklin, Benjamin

Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.

— Franklin, Benjamin

The path of least resistance makes all rivers, and some men, crooked.

— Hill, Napoleon

You must avoid sloth, that wicked siren.

— Horace

Lack of pep is often mistaken for patience.

— Hubbard, Kin

A loafer always has the correct time.

— Hubbard, Kin

Turn on the prudent ant thy heedful eyes. Observe her labors, sluggard, and be wise.

— Johnson, Samuel

My passions are all asleep from my having slumbered till nearly eleven and weakened the animal fiber all over me to a delightful sensation about three degrees on this sight of faintness -- if I had teeth of pearl and the breath of lilies I should call it languor -- but as I am I must call it laziness. In this state of effeminacy the fibers of the brain are relaxed in common with the rest of the body, and to such a happy degree that pleasure has no show of enticement and pain no unbearable frown. Neither poetry, nor ambition, nor love have any alertness of countenance as they pass by me.

— Keats, John

We seldom call anybody lazy, but such as we reckon inferior to us, and of whom we expect some service.

— Mandeville, Bernard

The only menace is inertia.

— Perse, St. John

I'm barely prolific and incredibly lazy.

— Petty, Tom

By doing nothing we learn to do ill.

— Proverb

Sloth is the key to poverty.

— Proverb

A young man idle, an old man needy.

— Proverb, English

Towards evening the lazy person begins to get busy.

— Proverb, German

It is better to sit down than to stand, it is better to lie down than to sit, but death is the best of all.

— Proverb, Indian

The lazier a man is, the more he plans to do tomorrow.

— Proverb, Norwegian

Failure is not our only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others.

— Renard, Jules

We have so many labor-saving devices today that we go broke keeping them repaired. Everything is easier, but requires greater maintenance.

— Sanny, Lorne

There is no fatigue so wearisome as that which comes from lack of work.

— Spurgeon, Charles Haddon

Too many young people itch for what they want without scratching for it.

— Taylor, Thomas

Lazy people are always anxious to be doing something.

— Vauvenargues, Marquis De

The idle always have a mind to do something.

— Vauvenargues, Marquis De

Absorption in ease is one of the most reliable signs of present or impending decay.

— Weaver, Richard

If you're coasting, you're either losing momentum or else you're headed downhill.

— Welsh, Joan