--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is the steady and merciless increase…" description: "\"It is the steady and merciless increase of occupations, the augmented speed at which we are always trying to live, the crowding of each day with more w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a8/agnes-repplier-1850_always-trying_it-is-the-steady-and-merciless-increase_2684416.jpg" --- # It is the steady and merciless increase of occupations… ![“It is the steady and merciless increase of occupations, the augmented speed at which we are always trying to live, the crowding of each day with more work than it can profitably hold, which has cost us, among other things, the undisturbed enjoyment of friends. Friendship takes time, and we have no…” quote by Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a8/agnes-repplier-1850_always-trying_it-is-the-steady-and-merciless-increase_2684416.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a8/agnes-repplier-1850_always-trying_it-is-the-steady-and-merciless-increase_2684416.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a8/agnes-repplier-1850_always-trying_it-is-the-steady-and-merciless-increase_2684416.jpg) > “It is the steady and merciless increase of occupations, the augmented speed at which we are always trying to live, the crowding of each day with more work than it can profitably hold, which has cost us, among other things, the undisturbed enjoyment of friends. Friendship takes time, and we have no time to give it.” [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Increasing work demands erode leisure time, making friendships harder to maintain and enjoy. **In simple terms:** Busy lives reduce friendship time. Key Takeaway Prioritize and protect social connections. Themes time management friendship workload balance well‑being Mood concerned practical Type advice reflective When to use this quote - calendar planning - digital detox - social events - team building - mental health breaks Key Concepts sociology psychology productivity Questions to Reflect On - How can you schedule friend time? - What boundaries protect relationships? A Different Perspective May conflict with career ambitions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Always trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always-trying/) [Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost/) [Each day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/each-day/) [Enjoyment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoyment/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Friends Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends-friendship-373378/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Friendship Takes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship-takes-2296806/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Increase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increase/) [Increase Occupations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increase-occupations-2606615/) [Occupation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occupation/) [Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speed/) [Steady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steady/) [Take time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/take-time/) [Takes Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/takes-time/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [Friendship takes time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/friendship-takes-time/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Friendship takes time and energy if it's going to work. You can luck into something great, but it doesn't last if you don't give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-white/friendship-takes-time-and-energy-if-it-s-going-to-work-you-can-luck/) [Betty White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-white/) > [It takes time and trouble to persuade ourselves that the things we want to do are the things we ought to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/it-takes-time-and-trouble-to-persuade-ourselves-that-the-things-we/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [The main challenge is technology and that's something I really push and work closely with Adidas on. They're real leaders in sports performance; always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-mccartney/the-main-challenge-is-technology-and-that-s-something-i-really-push/) [Stella McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-mccartney/) > [To build a friendship takes so much time and so many years. To ruin it, just seconds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vlade-divac/to-build-a-friendship-takes-so-much-time-and-so-many-years-to-ruin-it/) [Vlade Divac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vlade-divac/) > [Most people are enduring a marginalized isolation. One of the great obstacles to modern friendships is the 'religion of rush.' People are rushing all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-donohue/most-people-are-enduring-a-marginalized-isolation-one-of-the-great/) [John O'Donohue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-donohue/) > [“Friendship takes minutes to make, moments to break, years to repair”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/friendship-takes-minutes-to-make-moments-to-break-years-to-repair/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [ He takes the greatest ornament from friendship, who takes modesty from it. \[Lat., Maximum ornamentum amicitiae tollit, qui ex ea tollit verecudiam.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/he-takes-the-greatest-ornament-from-friendship-who-takes-modesty-from/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Like the sacramental use of water and bread and wine, friendship takes what's common in human experience and turns it into something holy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-the-sacramental-use-of-water-and-bread-and-wine-friendship-takes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Gift of Friendship Is That It Takes Us By The Hand and Reminds Us We Are Not Alone In The Journey of Life...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-gift-of-friendship-is-that-it-takes-us-by-the-hand-and-reminds-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Friendship takes place between those who have an affinity for one another, and is a perfectly natural and inevitable result. No professions nor advances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/friendship-takes-place-between-those-who-have-an-affinity-for-one/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Good software, like wine, takes time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-spolsky/good-software-like-wine-takes-time/) [Joel Spolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-spolsky/) > [It takes time to get a dance right, to create something memorable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-astaire/it-takes-time-to-get-a-dance-right-to-create-something-memorable/) [Fred Astaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-astaire/) > [Nobody sees a flower really,it is so small. We haven't time,and to see takes time- like to have a friend takes time. One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-more/nobody-sees-a-flower-really-it-is-so-small-we-haven-t-time-and-to-see/) [Thomas More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-more/) > [Empathic listening takes time, but it doesn't take anywhere near as much time as it takes to back up and correct misunderstandings when you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/empathic-listening-takes-time-but-it-doesn-t-take-anywhere-near-as/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) ## More by Agnes Repplier > [The dog is guided by kindly instinct to the man or woman whose heart is open to his advances. The cat often leaves the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/the-dog-is-guided-by-kindly-instinct-to-the-man-or-woman-whose-heart/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Letter-writing on the part of a busy man or woman is the quintessence of generosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/letter-writing-on-the-part-of-a-busy-man-or-woman-is-the-quintessence/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [To have given pleasure to one human being is a recollection that sweetens life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/to-have-given-pleasure-to-one-human-being-is-a-recollection-that/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Believers in political faith-healing enjoy a supreme immunity from doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/believers-in-political-faith-healing-enjoy-a-supreme-immunity-from/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Philadelphians are every whit as mediocre as their neighbors, but they seldom encourage each other in mediocrity by giving it a more agreeable name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/philadelphians-are-every-whit-as-mediocre-as-their-neighbors-but-they/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [When the milk of human kindness turns sour, it is a singularly unpalatable draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/when-the-milk-of-human-kindness-turns-sour-it-is-a-singularly/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Conversation in its happiest development is a link, equally exquisite and adequate, between mind and mind, a system by which men approach one another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/conversation-in-its-happiest-development-is-a-link-equally-exquisite/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [What monstrous absurdities and paradoxes have resisted whole batteries of serious arguments, and then crumbled swiftly into dust before the ringing death-knell of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/what-monstrous-absurdities-and-paradoxes-have-resisted-whole/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [the labors of the true critic are more essential to the author, even, than to the reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/the-labors-of-the-true-critic-are-more-essential-to-the-author-even/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/he-is-your-friend-your-partner-your-defender-your-dog-you-are-his/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Our dogs will love and admire the meanest of us, and feed our colossal vanity with their uncritical homage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/our-dogs-will-love-and-admire-the-meanest-of-us-and-feed-our-colossal/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Erudition, like a bloodhound, is a charming thing when held firmly in leash, but it is not so attractive when turned loose upon a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/erudition-like-a-bloodhound-is-a-charming-thing-when-held-firmly-in/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [There was no escape from the letter-writer who, a hundred or a hundred and twenty-five years ago, captured a coveted correspondent. It would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/there-was-no-escape-from-the-letter-writer-who-a-hundred-or-a-hundred/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Sleep sweetly in the fields of asphodel, and waken, as of old, to stretch thy languid length, and purr thy soft contentment to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/sleep-sweetly-in-the-fields-of-asphodel-and-waken-as-of-old-to/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [In the stress of modern life, how little room is left for that most comfortable vanity that whispers in our ears that failures are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/in-the-stress-of-modern-life-how-little-room-is-left-for-that-most/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) [Explore all 203 Agnes Repplier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) ## More Always trying quotes > [I'm always trying to have a good time on set because that's when things happen. That's when you're playful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sarandon/i-m-always-trying-to-have-a-good-time-on-set-because-that-s-when/) [Susan Sarandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sarandon/) > [I think we're always trying to push ourselves to do new things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-preciado/i-think-we-re-always-trying-to-push-ourselves-to-do-new-things/) [Jaime Preciado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-preciado/) > [I'm always trying to remember that kindness goes a long, long way. I think that's something that people will definitely take out of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stuhlbarg/i-m-always-trying-to-remember-that-kindness-goes-a-long-long-way-i/) [Michael Stuhlbarg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stuhlbarg/) > [I like embracing kind of normal forms but am always trying to approach them as if no one's ever done that before. As if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/i-like-embracing-kind-of-normal-forms-but-am-always-trying-to/) [Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/) > [I'm always trying to change things - change my character, change my look, change my hair, change my facial hair, change my costumes, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-jericho/i-m-always-trying-to-change-things-change-my-character-change-my-look/) [Chris Jericho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-jericho/) > [I believe in believing. My coach John Kavanagh is a big atheist, and he is always trying to persuade people to his way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/i-believe-in-believing-my-coach-john-kavanagh-is-a-big-atheist-and-he/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [My body and its condition are a barometer that is always trying to tell me which direction to go for my maximum creativity, health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-northrup/my-body-and-its-condition-are-a-barometer-that-is-always-trying-to/) [Christiane Northrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-northrup/) > [I'm always trying to do something active because I love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-agdal/i-m-always-trying-to-do-something-active-because-i-love-it/) [Nina Agdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-agdal/) > [ Innovation is not a big breakthrough invention every time. Innovation is a constant thing. But if you don't have an innovative company \[team\], coming… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/innovation-is-not-a-big-breakthrough-invention-every-time-innovation/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [I'm always trying to encourage people not to limit themselves in the same way that many of our parents stayed with one job forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-m-always-trying-to-encourage-people-not-to-limit-themselves-in-the/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [My thing was always trying to do as much as I possibly could do. I wanted to do all the things the other kids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-wonder/my-thing-was-always-trying-to-do-as-much-as-i-possibly-could-do-i/) [Stevie Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-wonder/) > [I think those of us who use language are always trying for this, trying to keep everything from floating away by trying to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ronk/i-think-those-of-us-who-use-language-are-always-trying-for-this/) [Martha Ronk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ronk/) > [Your parents were always trying to get you to be careful when you were a kid, and that's all pervasive in this society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-weir/your-parents-were-always-trying-to-get-you-to-be-careful-when-you/) [Bob Weir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-weir/) > [I would not call myself an optimist, even though I would aspire to be. I am innately a skeptic. There's kind of an incessant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-would-not-call-myself-an-optimist-even-though-i-would-aspire-to-be/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [They say that to be a writer you must first have an unhappy childhood. I don't know if unhappiness is necessary, but I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-rylant/they-say-that-to-be-a-writer-you-must-first-have-an-unhappy-childhood/) [Cynthia Rylant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-rylant/) [Browse all 232 Always trying quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always-trying/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is the steady and merciless increase of occupations, the augmented speed at which we are always trying to live, the crowding of each day with more work than it can profitably hold, which has cost us, among other things, the undisturbed enjoyment of friends. 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