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… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Poetry, being supremely useless, by its very existence represents a protest against the so-called 'real world' of busy-ness and moneymaking, so we… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
One aspect of fast London life I have never understood, for example, is the custom of the gym. Why do people go… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
It's pretty obvious that Western lifestyles which rely on gigantic amounts of electricity use up far more resources than a subsistence-based life.… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
If you look at the literature of the 19th century, you get things like Kafka and Dostoevsky, who basically write about feeling… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Management gurus in general are, I think, best avoided. All too often they reduce your working life to a list of rules… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Now I'm no biologist, but it seems to make a lot of sense that slow lives, as well as being enjoyable, are… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Punk was a protest against work and against boredom. It was a sign of life, a rant, a scream, a rejection of… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Laziness works. And the simple way to incorporate its health benefits into your life is simply to take a nap. — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
If we are to make life into a pleasure rather than a struggle, then I would suggest that we have to start… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Once you explore life outside of work, it becomes addictive. The less you work, the less you want to work. At first,… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Benjamin Franklin and the whole idea of a new attitude to money: "Time is money." He invented that idea. Before that, time… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
“But as we all know, it is the fairy-tale creatures - the misfits, the weirdos, the wanderers, the flakes, the poets, the… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Doing something you enjoy at times of your own choosing and making a living from it: now tell me, is that work? — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Faffing is good. It is an important part of life. Faffing is when we disconnect from the matrix and idle for a… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Idleness for me is not a giving up on life but a spirited grabbing hold of it. — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
A conclusion I’ve come to at the Idler is that it starts with retreating from work but it’s really about making work… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
If you can find a way to make a living doing something you enjoy, or a range of things that you enjoy,… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Life has been reduced to a series of long periods of boredom in the office punctuated by high-octane "experiences" which you can… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
“Boredom is the very opposite of beauty and truth. Life has been sacrificed to profit, and the result is boredom on a… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
The art of living is the art of bringing dreams and reality together. — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
By taking out a loan, I am committing myself to years of interest repayments, and therefore to years of wage slavery. And the UK… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
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… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Truly, the bench is a boon to idlers. Whoever first came up with the idea is a genius: free public resting places where you… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Beauty, pleasure, freedom and plenty of sleep: these are the hallmarks of a successful idler's break. Travel should not be hard work. — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
These days we seem more bound to our bosses than ever before. We even identify our own selves with the jobs we do: 'What… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
The way to stop feeling guilty is to read stuff - I'm not saying my book, but works by Bertrand Russell or Oscar Wilde,… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
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… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
When stuck years ago in a job I hated, my only friend was the public bench. As the tedious mornings dragged on, how I… — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Pain will never leave us. Instead of putting energy into destroying pain, we need to put energy into creating pleasure. — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
Sensible people advise against drinking on an empty stomach, but to my mind it is the best sort of drinking. — Tom Hodgkinson Copy Share Image
