Idle Quotes

438 Idle quotes by 328 unique authors

Never let the brain idle. ‘An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.’ And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s. — George Carlin
It is quite true that I have worshipped you with far more romance of feeling than a man usually gives to a friend. Somehow, I… — Oscar Wilde
Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf.… — Annie Dillard
I am not laughing, Dorian; at least I am not laughing at you. But you should not say the greatest romance of your life. You… — Oscar Wilde
But who are we, where do we come from When all those years Nothing but idle talk is left And we are nowhere in the… — Boris Pasternak
Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
...one cannot but wonder how an environment can make people despair and sit idle and then, by changing the conditions, one can transform the same… — Muhammad Yunus
I do want to get married. It's a nice idea. Though I think husbands are like tattoos--you should wait until you come across something you… — Sloane Crosley
Sorry about Bender," Lula said, letting the Trans Am idle at the curb. "Maybe we could tell Vinnie he died. We could say we were… — Janet Evanovich
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, “Peace! Peace!” — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!… — Patrick Henry
The difference between you and her (whom I to you did once prefer) Is clear enough to settle: She like a diamond shone, but you… — Robert Graves
The creative genius begins in the idle moment, dreaming up the impossible, and later making it come true. — Virginia C. Andrews
That the Devil finds work for idle hands to do is probably true. But there is a profound difference between leisure and idleness. — Henry Ford
I belonged in Idle Valley like a pearl onion on a banana split. — Raymond Chandler
His mind has become a refuge for old thoughts, idle, indigent, with nowhere else to go. He ought to chase them out, sweep the premises… — J M Coetzee
To be sane, he held, was either to be sedated by melancholy or activated by hysteria, two responses which were 'always and equally warranted for… — Thomas Ligotti
Miss Erstwhile: “It is such a relief, Mr. Nobley, to already know that you find this exercise vulgar and your partner unworthy. It saves us… — Shannon Hale
Woe betide him, and her too, when it comes to things of consequence, when they are placed in circumstances requiring fortitude and strength of mind,… — Jane Austen
Be careful how you suggest things to me. For there is in me a madness which goes beyond martyrdom, the madness of an utterly idle… — Gilbert K. Chesterton
I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing. — Emily Bronte
If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear. And this… — William Shakespeare
What's worse: to be idle while someone dies, or to be exiled and empty-handed? — Veronica Roth
I think the most joyous thing in life is to loaf around and watch another bloke do a job of work. Look how popular are… — Dorothy L. Sayers
The Lord had given them the day and the Lord had given them the strength. And the day and the strength had been dedicated to… — Leo Tolstoy
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession that marches in majesty and proud… — Khalil Gibran

Who Wrote These Idle Quotes

328 authors contributed a total of 438 Idle Quotes, led by these top contributors: