---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One still works, for work is a pastime…"
description: "\"“One still works, for work is a pastime. But one is careful lest the pastime should hurt one.”\" — Friedrich Nietzsche"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-bu_1856922.jpg"
---

#  One still works, for work is a pastime. But one is careful…

![“One still works, for work is a pastime. But one is careful lest the pastime should hurt one.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-bu_1856922.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-bu_1856922.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-bu_1856922.jpg)

> ““One still works, for work is a pastime. But one is careful lest the pastime should hurt one.””

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Work can be a leisure activity, but one must guard against it becoming harmful.

**In simple terms:** Work as a pastime must be managed wisely.

Key Takeaway

Balance work with self‑care.

Themes

work leisure self‑care balance

Mood

thoughtful cautious

Type

philosophical practical

When to use this quote

- career planning
- stress management
- hobby selection
- life coaching

Key Concepts

existentialism ethics psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- When does work become a burden?
- How can you protect yourself from harmful leisure?

A Different Perspective

Risk of burnout if boundaries blur.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

## Related quotes

> [Be careful, lest in casting out your demon you exorcise the best thing in you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/be-careful-lest-in-casting-out-your-demon-you-exorcise-the-best-thing/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-who-fights-with-monsters-should-be-careful-lest-he-thereby-become/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Careful, lest sentiment governs your ideals.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-h-septimius-2/careful-lest-sentiment-governs-your-ideals/)

[A.H. Septimius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-h-septimius-2/)

> [I have to be careful to get out before I become the grotesque caricature of a hatchet-faced woman with big knockers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-lee-curtis/i-have-to-be-careful-to-get-out-before-i-become-the-grotesque/)

[Jamie Lee Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-lee-curtis/)

> [We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-remember-that-intelligence-is-not-enough-intelligence-plus/)

[Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/)

> [A woman who is careful with her words is a gift to all who know her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysa-terkeurst/a-woman-who-is-careful-with-her-words-is-a-gift-to-all-who-know-her/)

[Lysa TerKeurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysa-terkeurst/)

> [Be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-clement-stone-2/be-careful-the-friends-you-choose-for-you-will-become-like-them/)

W Clement Stone

> [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/)

[Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/)

> [You've got to be careful against classy fighters, especially counter-punchers because if you go for the finish too early, you can end up getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/you-ve-got-to-be-careful-against-classy-fighters-especially-counter/)

[Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/)

> [If you think about what you do, if you become self-conscious about it, you've got to be very careful. Because I really like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/if-you-think-about-what-you-do-if-you-become-self-conscious-about-it/)

[Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/)

> [Physical beauty is not everything, but the beauty is more careful than anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/physical-beauty-is-not-everything-but-the-beauty-is-more-careful-than/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If I held all the thoughts of the world in my hand, I would be careful not to open it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/if-i-held-all-the-thoughts-of-the-world-in-my-hand-i-would-be-careful/)

[Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/)

> [Be careful. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to the worst Spanish student in the history of the language.” I laughed. “No problemo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/be-careful-i-wouldn-t-want-anything-to-happen-to-the-worst-spanish/)

[Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/)

> [“Only careful political manoeuvring will be able to manage the situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davan-yahya-khalil/only-careful-political-manoeuvring-will-be-able-to-manage-the/)

Davan Yahya Khalil

> [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/)

[Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/)

## More by Friedrich Nietzsche

> [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

## More Careful quotes

> [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/)

[Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/)

> [“Only careful political manoeuvring will be able to manage the situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davan-yahya-khalil/only-careful-political-manoeuvring-will-be-able-to-manage-the/)

Davan Yahya Khalil

> [Be careful. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to the worst Spanish student in the history of the language.” I laughed. “No problemo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/be-careful-i-wouldn-t-want-anything-to-happen-to-the-worst-spanish/)

[Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/)

> [If I held all the thoughts of the world in my hand, I would be careful not to open it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/if-i-held-all-the-thoughts-of-the-world-in-my-hand-i-would-be-careful/)

[Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/)

> [Physical beauty is not everything, but the beauty is more careful than anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/physical-beauty-is-not-everything-but-the-beauty-is-more-careful-than/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If you think about what you do, if you become self-conscious about it, you've got to be very careful. Because I really like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/if-you-think-about-what-you-do-if-you-become-self-conscious-about-it/)

[Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/)

> [You've got to be careful against classy fighters, especially counter-punchers because if you go for the finish too early, you can end up getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/you-ve-got-to-be-careful-against-classy-fighters-especially-counter/)

[Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/)

> [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/)

[Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/)

> [Be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-clement-stone-2/be-careful-the-friends-you-choose-for-you-will-become-like-them/)

W Clement Stone

> [A woman who is careful with her words is a gift to all who know her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysa-terkeurst/a-woman-who-is-careful-with-her-words-is-a-gift-to-all-who-know-her/)

[Lysa TerKeurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysa-terkeurst/)

> [We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-remember-that-intelligence-is-not-enough-intelligence-plus/)

[Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/)

> [I have to be careful to get out before I become the grotesque caricature of a hatchet-faced woman with big knockers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-lee-curtis/i-have-to-be-careful-to-get-out-before-i-become-the-grotesque/)

[Jamie Lee Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-lee-curtis/)

> [Success is like a mountain in front of you that keeps growing. If you're not careful, it will take up your whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/success-is-like-a-mountain-in-front-of-you-that-keeps-growing-if-you/)

[George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/)

> [ I just have to deal with it \[injuries\] if and when problems happen. It's obviously a concern and I've been very careful with my… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-james/i-just-have-to-deal-with-it-injuries-if-and-when-problems-happen-it-s/)

[Greg James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-james/)

> [Our communications reflect in our countenance. Therefore, we must be careful not only what we communicate, but also how we do so. Souls can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-lionel-kendrick/our-communications-reflect-in-our-countenance-therefore-we-must-be/)

[L. Lionel Kendrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-lionel-kendrick/)

Browse all 2,861 Careful quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“One still works, for work is a pastime. But one is careful lest the pastime should hurt one.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-but-one-is-careful-lest-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Careful"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-but-one-is-careful-lest-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-bu_1856922.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-bu_1856922.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-bu_1856922.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“One still works, for work is a pastime. But one is careful lest the pastime should hurt one.” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                "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": "Friedrich Nietzsche",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“One still works, for work is...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-but-one-is-careful-lest-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-still-works-for-work-is-a-pastime-but-one-is-careful-lest-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
