--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think I should not go far wrong if I…" description: "\"I think I should not go far wrong if I asserted that the amount of genuine leisure available in a society is generally in inverse proportion to the amo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/e-f-schumacher-8282_amount_i-think-i-should-not-go-far-wrong-if-i-a_1760368.png" --- # I think I should not go far wrong if I asserted that the… ![“I think I should not go far wrong if I asserted that the amount of genuine leisure available in a society is generally in inverse proportion to the amount of labor-saving machinery it employs.” quote by E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/e-f-schumacher-8282_amount_i-think-i-should-not-go-far-wrong-if-i-a_1760368.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/e-f-schumacher-8282_amount_i-think-i-should-not-go-far-wrong-if-i-a_1760368.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/e-f-schumacher-8282_amount_i-think-i-should-not-go-far-wrong-if-i-a_1760368.png) > “I think I should not go far wrong if I asserted that the amount of genuine leisure available in a society is generally in inverse proportion to the amount of labor-saving machinery it employs.” [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societies with more labor‑saving machines tend to have less genuine leisure time for their people. **In simple terms:** More machines, less free time. Key Takeaway Balance technology with leisure. Themes technology leisure economics Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - urban planning - work‑life balance - policy making - community design Key Concepts productivity social welfare automation Questions to Reflect On - How does automation affect personal fulfillment? - Can leisure be created without reducing work? A Different Perspective Leisure also depends on cultural values, not just machinery. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amount](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amount/) [Available](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/available/) [Generally Inverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generally-inverse-1686871/) [Genuine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine/) [Genuine Leisure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine-leisure-1686869/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inverse/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Labor Saving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor-saving-1183096/) [Leisure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leisure/) [Leisure Available](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leisure-available-1686870/) [Machinery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machinery/) [Proportion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proportion/) [Prosperity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prosperity/) [Saving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saving/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“The intellectual distinction of a house and its smartness are generally in inverse rather than direct ratio.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-intellectual-distinction-of-a-house-and-its-smartness-are/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Nothing increases the number of jobs so rapidly as labor-saving machinery, because it releases wants theretofore unknown, by permitting leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/nothing-increases-the-number-of-jobs-so-rapidly-as-labor-saving/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Government machinery has been described as a marvelous labor saving device which enables ten men to do the work of one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/government-machinery-has-been-described-as-a-marvelous-labor-saving/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [The most popular labor saving device is still money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-george/the-most-popular-labor-saving-device-is-still-money/) [Phyllis George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-george/) > [Love at first sight is one of the greatest labor-saving devices the world has ever seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/love-at-first-sight-is-one-of-the-greatest-labor-saving-devices-the/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [I have a feeling-as compelling as a religious conviction-that if industry will constantly pass on to the worker and the customer all the savings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-b-pettengill/i-have-a-feeling-as-compelling-as-a-religious-conviction-that-if/) [Samuel B. Pettengill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-b-pettengill/) > [We spend more time working for our labor-saving machines than they do working for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/we-spend-more-time-working-for-our-labor-saving-machines-than-they-do/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Nothing increases the number of jobs so rapidly as labor-saving machinery, because it releases wants theretofore unknown, by permitting leisure. In a pre-industrial economy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/nothing-increases-the-number-of-jobs-so-rapidly-as-labor-saving-2/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [TOMORROW: One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/tomorrow-one-of-the-greatest-labor-saving-devices-of-today/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Conspiracy theories are an irresistible labor-saving device in the face of complexity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/conspiracy-theories-are-an-irresistible-labor-saving-device-in-the/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [We have reached a point today where labor-saving devices are good only when they do not throw the worker out of his job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/we-have-reached-a-point-today-where-labor-saving-devices-are-good/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [The most efficient labor-saving device is still money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-p-jones/the-most-efficient-labor-saving-device-is-still-money/) [Franklin P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-p-jones/) > [The most popular labor-saving device today is still a husband with money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-lauren-adams/the-most-popular-labor-saving-device-today-is-still-a-husband-with/) [Joey Lauren Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joey-lauren-adams/) > [“Labor-saving technology was supposed to give us more leisure time, but a greater percentage of our waking hours is spent in work or work-related…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-finney/labor-saving-technology-was-supposed-to-give-us-more-leisure-time-but/) [Jack Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-finney/) > [Today's greatest labor-saving device is tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/today-s-greatest-labor-saving-device-is-tomorrow/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## More by E. F. Schumacher > [Work and leisure are complementary parts of the same living process and cannot be separated without destroying the joy of work and the bliss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/work-and-leisure-are-complementary-parts-of-the-same-living-process/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Study how a society uses its land, and you can come to pretty reliable conclusions as to what its future will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/study-how-a-society-uses-its-land-and-you-can-come-to-pretty-reliable/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Without ... the creative imagination rushing in where bureaucratic angels fear to tread - without this, life is a mockery and a disgrace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/without-the-creative-imagination-rushing-in-where-bureaucratic-angels/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Why precisely do we want to change land ownership? The answer seems to me to be quite clear: to inhibit land speculation, to inhibit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/why-precisely-do-we-want-to-change-land-ownership-the-answer-seems-to/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Our task - and the task of all education - is to understand the present world, the world in which we live and make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/our-task-and-the-task-of-all-education-is-to-understand-the-present/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Infinite growth of material consumption in a finite world is an impossibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/infinite-growth-of-material-consumption-in-a-finite-world-is-an/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Even bigger machines, entailing even bigger concentrations of economic power and exerting ever greater violence against the environment, do not represent progress: they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/even-bigger-machines-entailing-even-bigger-concentrations-of-economic/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [The substance of man cannot be measured by Gross National Product.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/the-substance-of-man-cannot-be-measured-by-gross-national-product/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [To describe an animal as a physico-chemical system of extreme complexityis no doubt perfectly correct, except that it misses out on the animalness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/to-describe-an-animal-as-a-physico-chemical-system-of-extreme/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Our task is to look at the world, and see it whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/our-task-is-to-look-at-the-world-and-see-it-whole/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [The most striking about modern industry is that it requires so much and accomplishes so little. Modern industry seems to be inefficient to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/the-most-striking-about-modern-industry-is-that-it-requires-so-much/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [The modern world tends to be skeptical about everything that makes demands on man's higher faculties. But it is not at all skeptical about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/the-modern-world-tends-to-be-skeptical-about-everything-that-makes/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Many people love in themselves what they hate in others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/many-people-love-in-themselves-what-they-hate-in-others/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [I cannot predict the wind but I can have my sail ready.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/i-cannot-predict-the-wind-but-i-can-have-my-sail-ready/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [The technology of mass production is inherently violent, ecologically damaging, self-defeating in terms of non-renewable resources, and stultifying for the human person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/the-technology-of-mass-production-is-inherently-violent-ecologically/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) [Explore all 82 E. F. Schumacher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) ## More Amount quotes > [Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/dating-someone-on-the-opposite-end-of-the-happy-spectrum-teaches-you/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [When the amount of change externally exceeds the amount of change internally, the end is in sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/when-the-amount-of-change-externally-exceeds-the-amount-of-change/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [It's a challenge to work a character's arc into a format in which you only have a very limited amount of time to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginnifer-goodwin/it-s-a-challenge-to-work-a-character-s-arc-into-a-format-in-which-you/) [Ginnifer Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginnifer-goodwin/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [The amount you give isn't important. What matters is what that amount represents in terms of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-amount-you-give-isn-t-important-what-matters-is-what-that-amount/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [There's a place in Botswana where there are 100,000 elephants living in a single population. Think of the amount of space they need. Remember,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-bergin/there-s-a-place-in-botswana-where-there-are-100-000-elephants-living/) [Patrick Bergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-bergin/) > [How could you justify giving Holland twice the amount of money that you gave Belgium? Well, finally, I put it up to them. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-averell-harriman/how-could-you-justify-giving-holland-twice-the-amount-of-money-that/) [W. Averell Harriman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-averell-harriman/) > [I am not a great believer in dialectical struggle. I am much more of a fusion person. I see it as a dialogue, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-warner/i-am-not-a-great-believer-in-dialectical-struggle-i-am-much-more-of-a/) [Marina Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-warner/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) [Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) [F. A. 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To have to worry about your loved ones and still try and live a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashanti/i-have-a-tremendous-amount-of-respect-for-military-families-to-have/) [Ashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashanti/) > [In sports teams, apart from talk of sporting prowess and the imparting of inspirational thought, an extraordinary amount of time is spent discussing, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harsha-bhogle/in-sports-teams-apart-from-talk-of-sporting-prowess-and-the-imparting/) [Harsha Bhogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harsha-bhogle/) [Browse all 4,202 Amount quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amount/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think I should not go far wrong if I asserted that the amount of genuine leisure available in a society is generally in inverse proportion to the amount of labor-saving machinery it employs.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. F. 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