--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The usual trouble with volunteers is not…" description: "\"The usual trouble with volunteers is not killing them with overwork, but simply boring them to death.\" — Harold J. Seymour" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/harold-j-seymour-80699_boredom_the-usual-trouble-with-volunteers-is-not_677040.jpg" --- # The usual trouble with volunteers is not killing them with… ![“The usual trouble with volunteers is not killing them with overwork, but simply boring them to death.” quote by Harold J. Seymour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/harold-j-seymour-80699_boredom_the-usual-trouble-with-volunteers-is-not_677040.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/harold-j-seymour-80699_boredom_the-usual-trouble-with-volunteers-is-not_677040.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/harold-j-seymour-80699_boredom_the-usual-trouble-with-volunteers-is-not_677040.jpg) > “The usual trouble with volunteers is not killing them with overwork, but simply boring them to death.” Harold J. Seymour ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Volunteers lose interest not from overload but from monotony, highlighting the need for engaging tasks. **In simple terms:** Boredom kills volunteers more than overwork. Key Takeaway Keep tasks varied and interesting. Themes volunteering engagement motivation workload leadership Mood reflective practical Type advisory inspirational When to use this quote - nonprofit work - team projects - training sessions Key Concepts organizational behavior motivation theory human resources Questions to Reflect On - How can leaders keep volunteers motivated? - What activities prevent boredom in teams? A Different Perspective Even mild boredom can cause disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) [Overwork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overwork/) [Volunteer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/volunteer/) ## Related quotes > [I simply find it boring to walk around like everybody else. I find it really great to stand out and do something special.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/i-simply-find-it-boring-to-walk-around-like-everybody-else-i-find-it/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) > [Easter reminds me of how boring my death will probably be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/easter-reminds-me-of-how-boring-my-death-will-probably-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The West is boring itself to death! And talking itself to death!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-vreeland/the-west-is-boring-itself-to-death-and-talking-itself-to-death/) [Diana Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-vreeland/) > [“If you’re going to die, die interesting! Is there anything worse than a boring death? (Other than a Charlie Rose marathon on PBS?) I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/if-you-re-going-to-die-die-interesting-is-there-anything-worse-than-a/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I don't overwork - a couple of hours a day is fine for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/i-don-t-overwork-a-couple-of-hours-a-day-is-fine-for-me/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [The inferior creatures groan under your cruelties. You hunt them for your pleasure, and overwork them for your covetousness, and kill them for your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-tryon/the-inferior-creatures-groan-under-your-cruelties-you-hunt-them-for/) Tom Tryon > [I believe in work, hard work, and long hours of work. Men do not breakdown from overwork, but from worry and dissipation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-evans-hughes/i-believe-in-work-hard-work-and-long-hours-of-work-men-do-not/) [Charles Evans Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-evans-hughes/) > [Men do not die from overwork. They die from dissipation and worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-evans-hughes/men-do-not-die-from-overwork-they-die-from-dissipation-and-worry/) [Charles Evans Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-evans-hughes/) > [“Homo Defessus – Never before in human history has so many people considered their everyday tiredness (because they are so busy and have so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giannis-delimitsos/homo-defessus-never-before-in-human-history-has-so-many-people/) [Giannis Delimitsos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giannis-delimitsos/) > [I guess songwriting has become a little more difficult for me over the years or maybe I regard it in a different light because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-rutledge/i-guess-songwriting-has-become-a-little-more-difficult-for-me-over/) [Justin Rutledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-rutledge/) > [I think the socialist movement, by removing many, many people from grinding stagnation and poverty and overwork, does enable people not just to lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-think-the-socialist-movement-by-removing-many-many-people-from/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [The only President who clearly died of overwork was Polk, and that was a long time ago. Hoover, who worked intensely and humorlessly as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/the-only-president-who-clearly-died-of-overwork-was-polk-and-that-was/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [It's worth living abroad to study up on genteel and delicate manners. The maid smiles continuously; she smiles like a duchess on a stage,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/it-s-worth-living-abroad-to-study-up-on-genteel-and-delicate-manners/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Fatigue can make it hard to have faith. Too much busyness can make it hard to have faith. Too much of too little solitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/fatigue-can-make-it-hard-to-have-faith-too-much-busyness-can-make-it/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [The big problem for comic art is you don't want to overwork it. If a drawing is overworked it isn't funny. It's the spontaneity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-sorel/the-big-problem-for-comic-art-is-you-don-t-want-to-overwork-it-if-a/) [Edward Sorel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-sorel/) ## More by Harold J. Seymour > [The vineyards of philanthropy are pleasant places, and I would hope good men and women will be drawn there… If these vineyards are to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-j-seymour/the-vineyards-of-philanthropy-are-pleasant-places-and-i-would-hope/) Harold J. Seymour > [Things were bad but now they are OK.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-j-seymour/things-were-bad-but-now-they-are-ok/) Harold J. Seymour Explore all 3 Harold J. Seymour quotes ## More Boredom quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The usual trouble with volunteers is not killing them with overwork, but simply boring them to death.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harold J. 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