--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If bread is the first necessity of life…" description: "\"If bread is the first necessity of life, recreation is a close second.\" — Edward Bellamy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a52/edward-bellamy-21275_bread_if-bread-is-the-first-necessity-of-life_2176895.png" --- # If bread is the first necessity of life, recreation is a… ![“If bread is the first necessity of life, recreation is a close second.” quote by Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a52/edward-bellamy-21275_bread_if-bread-is-the-first-necessity-of-life_2176895.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a52/edward-bellamy-21275_bread_if-bread-is-the-first-necessity-of-life_2176895.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a52/edward-bellamy-21275_bread_if-bread-is-the-first-necessity-of-life_2176895.png) > “If bread is the first necessity of life, recreation is a close second.” [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Basic needs like food are essential, but leisure is nearly as important for a fulfilling life. **In simple terms:** Recreation is almost as vital as food. Key Takeaway Prioritize leisure alongside necessities. Themes well‑being balance human needs Mood thoughtful encouraging Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal health - work‑life balance - community activities - mental health Key Concepts psychology of happiness quality of life Questions to Reflect On - How does leisure contribute to overall health? - What balance of work and play feels optimal for you? A Different Perspective Some may view recreation as non‑essential during scarcity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread/) [Bread Necessity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread-necessity-4685072/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Recreation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-recreation-4685073/) [Necessity Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessity-life-1567460/) [Recreation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recreation/) ## Related quotes > [Good wine is a necessity of life for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/good-wine-is-a-necessity-of-life-for-me/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Tough love may be tough to give, but it is a necessity of life and assurance of positive growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/tough-love-may-be-tough-to-give-but-it-is-a-necessity-of-life-and/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [The ability to produce every necessity of life renders us independent in war as well as in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millard-fillmore/the-ability-to-produce-every-necessity-of-life-renders-us-independent/) [Millard Fillmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millard-fillmore/) > [“If death is necessity life is a choice”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasser-hakeem/if-death-is-necessity-life-is-a-choice/) [Yasser Hakeem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasser-hakeem/) > [A second-class mind dealing with third-class material is hardly a necessity of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-laski/a-second-class-mind-dealing-with-third-class-material-is-hardly-a/) [Harold Laski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-laski/) > [The honesty of a persons audacity of simplicity is in his capacity and capability to live with a few simple things and leave many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj-somany/the-honesty-of-a-persons-audacity-of-simplicity-is-in-his-capacity/) [Anuj Somany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj-somany/) > [Music is a necessity. After food, air, water and warmth, music is the next necessity of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-richards/music-is-a-necessity-after-food-air-water-and-warmth-music-is-the/) [Keith Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-richards/) > [Walking around with less than ten thousand dollars is completely unacceptable. It's a necessity of life. It gives you freedom. The most important thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-landesman/walking-around-with-less-than-ten-thousand-dollars-is-completely/) [Rocco Landesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-landesman/) > [“Loving you was never an option – it is a necessity in life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truth-devour/loving-you-was-never-an-option-it-is-a-necessity-in-life/) [Truth Devour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truth-devour/) > [This above all-ask yourself in the stillest hour of your night: must I write? Delve into yourself for a deep answer. And if this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/this-above-all-ask-yourself-in-the-stillest-hour-of-your-night-must-i/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Poetry is a necessity of life,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/poetry-is-a-necessity-of-life/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [Life without friends is like living a life of the death, friends are a necessity in our life but care must be apply before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crosby-kwaw/life-without-friends-is-like-living-a-life-of-the-death-friends-are-a/) [Crosby Kwaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crosby-kwaw/) > [It is so often on the name of a misdeed that a life goes to pieces, not the nameless and personal action itself, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/it-is-so-often-on-the-name-of-a-misdeed-that-a-life-goes-to-pieces/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-morris/beauty-which-is-what-is-meant-by-art-using-the-word-in-its-widest/) [William Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-morris/) > [My dinners have never interfered with my business. They have been my recreation. . . A public banquet, if eaten with thought and care,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-depew/my-dinners-have-never-interfered-with-my-business-they-have-been-my/) [Chauncey Depew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-depew/) ## More by Edward Bellamy > [Hold the period of youth sacred to education, and the period of maturity, when the physical forces begin to flag, equally sacred to ease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/hold-the-period-of-youth-sacred-to-education-and-the-period-of/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [When you come to analyze the love of money which was the general impulse to effort in your day, you find that the dread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/when-you-come-to-analyze-the-love-of-money-which-was-the-general/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [No republic can long exist unless a substantial equality in the wealth of citizens prevails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/no-republic-can-long-exist-unless-a-substantial-equality-in-the/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [The primal principle of democracy is the worth and dignity of the individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/the-primal-principle-of-democracy-is-the-worth-and-dignity-of-the/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Why, when the world gets to understand about it I expect that two men or two women, or a man and a woman, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/why-when-the-world-gets-to-understand-about-it-i-expect-that-two-men/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Equal wealth and equal opportunities of culture have simply made us all members of one class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/equal-wealth-and-equal-opportunities-of-culture-have-simply-made-us/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [The most dangerous lovers women have are men of Cordis's feminine temperament. Such men, by the delicacy and sensitiveness of their own organizations, read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/the-most-dangerous-lovers-women-have-are-men-of-cordis-s-feminine/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [An American credit card...is just as good in Europe as American gold used to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/an-american-credit-card-is-just-as-good-in-europe-as-american-gold/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [“There is no such thing in a civilized society as self-support. In a state of society so barbarous as not even to know family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/there-is-no-such-thing-in-a-civilized-society-as-self-support-in-a/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Looking Backward was written in the belief that the Golden Age lies before us and not behind us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/looking-backward-was-written-in-the-belief-that-the-golden-age-lies/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [People nowadays interchange gifts and favors out of friendship, but buying and selling is considered absolutely inconsistent with the mutual benevolence which should prevail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/people-nowadays-interchange-gifts-and-favors-out-of-friendship-but/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [The nation guarantees the nurture, education, and comfortable maintenance of every citizen from the cradle to the grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/the-nation-guarantees-the-nurture-education-and-comfortable/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Buying and selling is essentially antisocial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/buying-and-selling-is-essentially-antisocial/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Badly off as the men...were in your day, they were more fortunate than their mothers and wives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/badly-off-as-the-men-were-in-your-day-they-were-more-fortunate-than/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) [Explore all 29 Edward Bellamy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) ## More Bread quotes > [French women don't eat Wonder Bread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mireille-guiliano/french-women-don-t-eat-wonder-bread/) [Mireille Guiliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mireille-guiliano/) > [In the olden days in England, you could be hung for stealing a sheep or a loaf of bread. However, if a sheep stole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-harding/in-the-olden-days-in-england-you-could-be-hung-for-stealing-a-sheep/) [Mike Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-harding/) > [I don't eat meat - chicken, fish, none of that. I eat a lot of vegetable sandwiches, like lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers, whatever I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gza/i-don-t-eat-meat-chicken-fish-none-of-that-i-eat-a-lot-of-vegetable/) [Gza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gza/) > [“We should remark the grace and fascination that there is even in the incidentals of Nature's processes.. When a loaf of bread,. for instance,.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-should-remark-the-grace-and-fascination-that-there-is-even-in-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [When I met you you were oh so sweet, now you give me the bread and you take all the meat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-jett/when-i-met-you-you-were-oh-so-sweet-now-you-give-me-the-bread-and-you/) [Joan Jett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-jett/) > [When you fight to give your family bread, that's not passion anymore: that's conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoel-romero/when-you-fight-to-give-your-family-bread-that-s-not-passion-anymore/) [Yoel Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoel-romero/) > [I think the best Thanksgiving we ever had was one where we didn't even have a turkey. Mom and Dad sat us kids down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/i-think-the-best-thanksgiving-we-ever-had-was-one-where-we-didn-t/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/bread-is-a-second-cause-the-lord-himself-is-the-first-source-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Even if we have to go without bread, we Albanians do not violate principles. We do not betray Marxism - Leninism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enver-hoxha/even-if-we-have-to-go-without-bread-we-albanians-do-not-violate/) [Enver Hoxha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enver-hoxha/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“Nine times out of ten, people pick the wrong food. No, it’s not the sugar (GI = 68), it’s not the candy bar (GI…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-perlmutter/nine-times-out-of-ten-people-pick-the-wrong-food-no-it-s-not-the/) [David Perlmutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-perlmutter/) > [Waffles аrе јust awesome bread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/waffles-r-ust-awesome-bread/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [At my age, I don't buy but a half a loaf of bread, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merle-haggard/at-my-age-i-don-t-buy-but-a-half-a-loaf-of-bread-you-know/) [Merle Haggard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merle-haggard/) > [Jesus Christ would have been considered just another long-haired hippie freak if he hadn't been crucified. 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