--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is…" description: "\"“Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the bod..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/cal-newport-1302_procrastination_here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is_2229833.jpg" --- # Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is not just a… ![“Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets… it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.” quote by Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/cal-newport-1302_procrastination_here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is_2229833.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/cal-newport-1302_procrastination_here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is_2229833.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/cal-newport-1302_procrastination_here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is_2229833.jpg) > ““Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets… it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.”” [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Idle time is essential for mental health, like vitamin D for the body; without it we risk cognitive decline. **In simple terms:** Rest is vital for brain health. Key Takeaway Schedule regular breaks. Themes productivity mental health balance Mood reflective balanced Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - workday planning - creative projects - study sessions - remote work Key Concepts Neuroscience cognitive restoration Questions to Reflect On - How much rest do you need daily? - What activities recharge your mind? A Different Perspective Too much idleness can lead to procrastination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Idleness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idleness/) [Procrastination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/procrastination/) ## Related quotes > [“Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-kreider/idleness-is-not-just-a-vacation-an-indulgence-or-a-vice-it-is-as/) [Tim Kreider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-kreider/) > [“Count Tolstoy preached inaction. It seems he had no need. We "inact" remarkably. Idleness, just that idleness Tolstoy dreamed of, a free, conscious idling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/count-tolstoy-preached-inaction-it-seems-he-had-no-need-we-inact/) [Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/) > [ “Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. \[...\] They who work… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/work-done-with-anxiety-about-results-is-far-inferior-to-work-done/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [I'm glad that, despite everything, I was able to get work done and finish something. I never finish anything. So just being able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-cole-smith/i-m-glad-that-despite-everything-i-was-able-to-get-work-done-and/) [Zachary Cole Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-cole-smith/) > [Sometimes I feel like just to get all my own work done would be great. 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But it wouldn't be for me, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celia-imrie/there-are-actresses-who-ve-had-expensive-work-done-and-look-great-so/) [Celia Imrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celia-imrie/) > [Most celebrities are not going to admit they had work done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-nassif/most-celebrities-are-not-going-to-admit-they-had-work-done/) [Paul Nassif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-nassif/) > [“For some employers, there is no more glorious work than work done for free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamerlan-kuzgov/for-some-employers-there-is-no-more-glorious-work-than-work-done-for/) [Tamerlan Kuzgov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamerlan-kuzgov/) > [God doesn't love me any more or less because I had some work done on my face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/god-doesn-t-love-me-any-more-or-less-because-i-had-some-work-done-on/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [“I hope we're not intruding,' she croons, sweetly. 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If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“many software companies now deploy the Scrum project management methodology, which replaces a lot of this ad hoc messaging with regular, highly structured, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/many-software-companies-now-deploy-the-scrum-project-management/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“when paying more than $1,000 a day to write the chapter in a suite of an old hotel down the street from a Hogwarts-style…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/when-paying-more-than-1-000-a-day-to-write-the-chapter-in-a-suite-of/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“When deciding whether to follow an appealing pursuit that will introduce more control into your work life, seek evidence of whether people are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/when-deciding-whether-to-follow-an-appealing-pursuit-that-will/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“Let your mind become a lens, thanks to the converging rays of attention; let your soul be all intent on whatever it is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/let-your-mind-become-a-lens-thanks-to-the-converging-rays-of/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“study by Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow. 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This name is a nod to the fact that journalists, like Walter Isaacson, are trained to shift into a writing mode…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-journalist-philosophy-this-name-is-a-nod-to-the-fact-that/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“Not long into his 2010 TED talk on creativity and leadership, Derek Sivers plays a video clip of a crowd at an outdoor concert.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/not-long-into-his-2010-ted-talk-on-creativity-and-leadership-derek/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“Kirk’s path to American Treasures was incremental. He didn’t decide out of nowhere that he wanted to host a television show and then work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/kirk-s-path-to-american-treasures-was-incremental-he-didn-t-decide/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“If you spend too much time focusing on whether or not you’ve found your true calling, the question will be rendered moot when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/if-you-spend-too-much-time-focusing-on-whether-or-not-you-ve-found/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“Their plans were circumspect and small-time. They weren’t dreaming of taking over the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/their-plans-were-circumspect-and-small-time-they-weren-t-dreaming-of/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [“This chain method (as some now call it) soon became a hit among writers and fitness enthusiasts—communities that thrive on the ability to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/this-chain-method-as-some-now-call-it-soon-became-a-hit-among-writers/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) [Explore all 257 Cal Newport quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) ## More Idleness quotes > [“Idleness is seductive. Just relax and do nothing, it says.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/innocent-mwatsikesimbe/idleness-is-seductive-just-relax-and-do-nothing-it-says/) [Innocent Mwatsikesimbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/innocent-mwatsikesimbe/) > [“Virtue? A fig! 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/virtue-a-fig-tis-in-ourselves-that-we-are-thus-or-thus-our-bodies-are/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The frivolous work of polished idleness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mackintosh/the-frivolous-work-of-polished-idleness/) [James Mackintosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mackintosh/) > [We are more heavily taxed by our idleness, pride and folly than we are taxed by government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/we-are-more-heavily-taxed-by-our-idleness-pride-and-folly-than-we-are/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Doing nothing is the hardest torture that a person can put himself through. For he is always brought face to face with his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iwan-goll/doing-nothing-is-the-hardest-torture-that-a-person-can-put-himself/) [Iwan Goll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iwan-goll/) > [Inactivity and deprivation of all accustomed stimulus is not rest; it is a preparation for the tomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/inactivity-and-deprivation-of-all-accustomed-stimulus-is-not-rest-it/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [“Liza had a finely developed sense of sin Idleness was a sin, and card playing, which was a kind of idleness to her. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/liza-had-a-finely-developed-sense-of-sin-idleness-was-a-sin-and-card/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Idleness is paralysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roswell-dwight-hitchcock/idleness-is-paralysis/) [Roswell Dwight Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roswell-dwight-hitchcock/) > [The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover, Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank, Conceives by idleness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-even-mead-that-erst-brought-sweetly-forth-the-freckled-cowslip/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/there-is-a-perennial-nobleness-and-even-sacredness-in-work-were-he/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Great talents, by the rust of long disuse, Grow lethargic and shrink from what they were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/great-talents-by-the-rust-of-long-disuse-grow-lethargic-and-shrink/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Far from idleness being the root of all evil, it is rather the only true good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/far-from-idleness-being-the-root-of-all-evil-it-is-rather-the-only/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“Reality has a tendency to reveal itself when man is idle, and so it is because of this that idleness is often regarded as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/reality-has-a-tendency-to-reveal-itself-when-man-is-idle-and-so-it-is/) VD > [Let us be grateful to Adam: he cut us out of the blessing of idleness and won for us the curse of labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/let-us-be-grateful-to-adam-he-cut-us-out-of-the-blessing-of-idleness/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If I gave my mother a knitted scarf she'd be worried I was wasting my time doing stupid stuff like knitting instead of school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mindy-kaling/if-i-gave-my-mother-a-knitted-scarf-she-d-be-worried-i-was-wasting-my/) [Mindy Kaling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mindy-kaling/) [Browse all 564 Idleness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idleness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets… it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cal Newport" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is-not-just-a-vacation-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Idleness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is-not-just-a-vacation-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/cal-newport-1302_procrastination_here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is_2229833.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/cal-newport-1302_procrastination_here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is_2229833.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/cal-newport-1302_procrastination_here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is_2229833.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as…” — Cal Newport", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cal Newport", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is-not-just-a-vacation-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/here-s-kreider-s-explanation-idleness-is-not-just-a-vacation-an/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```