--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The young man never seemed to know what…" description: "\"“The young man never seemed to know what idleness was,” marveled Cutler, “and every leisure moment would find the last novel, some English classic or s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_books_the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what_1449802.png" --- # The young man never seemed to know what idleness was,”… ![“The young man never seemed to know what idleness was,” marveled Cutler, “and every leisure moment would find the last novel, some English classic or some abstruse book on natural history in his hands.” quote by Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_books_the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what_1449802.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_books_the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what_1449802.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_books_the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what_1449802.png) > ““The young man never seemed to know what idleness was,” marveled Cutler, “and every leisure moment would find the last novel, some English classic or some abstruse book on natural history in his hands.”” [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A restless intellect fills idle time with constant reading, showing curiosity and a drive for knowledge. **In simple terms:** He reads constantly when free. Key Takeaway Cultivate curiosity in leisure. Themes curiosity learning leisure intellectualism Mood thoughtful reflective Type observational descriptive When to use this quote - free time - personal development - academic growth Key Concepts bibliophilia self‑education Questions to Reflect On - How can one balance reading with rest? - What topics spark your curiosity? A Different Perspective May lead to burnout without balance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cutler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutler-1084452/) [English class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Idleness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idleness/) [Idleness Marveled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idleness-marveled-5210881/) [Know Idleness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-idleness-2779058/) [Marveled Cutler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marveled-cutler-5210882/) [Natural history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-history/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Young man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-man/) ## Related quotes > [Four things I am wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/four-things-i-am-wiser-to-know-idleness-sorrow-a-friend-and-a-foe/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [“Cutler ground his teeth. She flinched if he came near her, but the beast got a feel-me-up. Okay,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siera-london/cutler-ground-his-teeth-she-flinched-if-he-came-near-her-but-the/) [Siera London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siera-london/) > [Jay Cutler is a first-round pick, had a great arm, etc. It's just - he's offense, I'm defense. 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I like some things in them, but I detest Tennyson's Arthur. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/we-have-the-idylls-of-the-king-in-english-class-this-term-i-like-some/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [I have no formal training as a writer at all, not even a single English class in college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-westerfeld/i-have-no-formal-training-as-a-writer-at-all-not-even-a-single/) [Scott Westerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-westerfeld/) > [I knew I wanted to go to college and I wanted to study it acting, so I just looked for the best school that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-wilson/i-knew-i-wanted-to-go-to-college-and-i-wanted-to-study-it-acting-so-i/) [Patrick Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-wilson/) ## More by Doris Kearns Goodwin > [I write about presidents. That means I write about guys - so far. I'm interested in the people closest to them, the people they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-write-about-presidents-that-means-i-write-about-guys-so-far-i-m/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [What I think I've learned is that you're never going to get it all right, and you can't obsess about having a fact wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/what-i-think-i-ve-learned-is-that-you-re-never-going-to-get-it-all/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [I wish we could go back to the time when the private lives of our public figures were relevant only if they directly affected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-wish-we-could-go-back-to-the-time-when-the-private-lives-of-our/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [People will love him (Theodore Roosevelt) for the enemies he has made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/people-will-love-him-theodore-roosevelt-for-the-enemies-he-has-made/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“This extreme treatment was among the proliferating regimens developed in response to the stunning increase in nervous disorders diagnosed around the turn of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/this-extreme-treatment-was-among-the-proliferating-regimens-developed/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“I could carve out of a banana a judge with more backbone than that,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-could-carve-out-of-a-banana-a-judge-with-more-backbone-than-that/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“And Lincoln, as would be evidenced throughout his presidency, was a master of timing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/and-lincoln-as-would-be-evidenced-throughout-his-presidency-was-a/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“Don’t hit till you have to; but, when you do hit, hit hard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/don-t-hit-till-you-have-to-but-when-you-do-hit-hit-hard/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“After ministering each day to the hundreds of young men who had endured ghastly wounds, submitted to amputations without anesthesia, and often died without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/after-ministering-each-day-to-the-hundreds-of-young-men-who-had/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [The value that I found in interviewing was for an educational experience, just to know that history itself is subjective, that you can't say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/the-value-that-i-found-in-interviewing-was-for-an-educational/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [Excitement about things became a habit, a part of my personality, and the expectation that I should enjoy new experiences often engendered the enjoyment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/excitement-about-things-became-a-habit-a-part-of-my-personality-and/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“All the cartoonists at heart liked him, and there was seldom or never anything bitter or really unfriendly in their portrayals of him; they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/all-the-cartoonists-at-heart-liked-him-and-there-was-seldom-or-never/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [I think that's still what the American Dream means: that with perseverance, with hard work, you can become something, that the classes won't prevent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-think-that-s-still-what-the-american-dream-means-that-with/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [I shall always be grateful for this curious love of history, allowing me to spend a lifetime looking back into the past, allowing me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-shall-always-be-grateful-for-this-curious-love-of-history-allowing/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“Simon Cameron: “I loved my brother, as only the poor and lonely can love those with whom they have toiled and struggled up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/simon-cameron-i-loved-my-brother-as-only-the-poor-and-lonely-can-love/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) [Explore all 196 Doris Kearns Goodwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The young man never seemed to know what idleness was,” marveled Cutler, “and every leisure moment would find the last novel, some English classic or some abstruse book on natural history in his hands.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Doris Kearns Goodwin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what-idleness-was-marveled-cutler/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what-idleness-was-marveled-cutler/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_books_the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what_1449802.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_books_the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what_1449802.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_books_the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what_1449802.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The young man never seemed to know what idleness was,” marveled Cutler, “and every leisure moment would find…” — Doris Kearns Goodwin", "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": "Doris Kearns Goodwin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The young man never seemed to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what-idleness-was-marveled-cutler/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/the-young-man-never-seemed-to-know-what-idleness-was-marveled-cutler/#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 } } ] } ```