--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Shall we keep our hands in our bosom, or…" description: "\"Shall we keep our hands in our bosom, or stretch ourselves on our beds of laziness, while all the world about us is hard at work, in pursuing the desig..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/isaac-barrow-13537_bed_shall-we-keep-our-hands-in-our-bosom-or_659542.jpg" --- # Shall we keep our hands in our bosom, or stretch ourselves… ![“Shall we keep our hands in our bosom, or stretch ourselves on our beds of laziness, while all the world about us is hard at work, in pursuing the designs of its creation?” quote by Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/isaac-barrow-13537_bed_shall-we-keep-our-hands-in-our-bosom-or_659542.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/isaac-barrow-13537_bed_shall-we-keep-our-hands-in-our-bosom-or_659542.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/isaac-barrow-13537_bed_shall-we-keep-our-hands-in-our-bosom-or_659542.jpg) > “Shall we keep our hands in our bosom, or stretch ourselves on our beds of laziness, while all the world about us is hard at work, in pursuing the designs of its creation?” [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We must choose between complacency and active effort while others labor to shape creation. **In simple terms:** Avoid laziness; work actively like the world. Key Takeaway Choose effort over idleness. Themes work ethic motivation creation Mood determined inspirational Type motivational reflective When to use this quote - personal productivity - team projects - community service Key Concepts activity purpose societal contribution Questions to Reflect On - What motivates you to act instead of stay idle? - How can collective effort be coordinated? A Different Perspective Hard work alone may not guarantee success without direction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Laziness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laziness/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I suppose it is out of laziness that the world is the same day after day. Today it seemed to want to change. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-suppose-it-is-out-of-laziness-that-the-world-is-the-same-day-after/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Spread yourself upon his bosom publicly, whose heart you would eat in private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/spread-yourself-upon-his-bosom-publicly-whose-heart-you-would-eat-in/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The mere reality of life would be inconceivably poor without the charm of fancy, which brings in its bosom, no doubt, as many vain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/the-mere-reality-of-life-would-be-inconceivably-poor-without-the/) [Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/) > [If you can sin and not weep over it, you are an heir of Hell. If you can go into sin, and afterwards feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/if-you-can-sin-and-not-weep-over-it-you-are-an-heir-of-hell-if-you/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [... the evil that comes out of your lips, into your own bosom will fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-barr/the-evil-that-comes-out-of-your-lips-into-your-own-bosom-will-fall/) [Amelia Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-barr/) > [To seek out in a world full of joy the one thing that is certain to give you pain, and hug it to your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-giraudoux/to-seek-out-in-a-world-full-of-joy-the-one-thing-that-is-certain-to/) [Jean Giraudoux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-giraudoux/) > [For a long time, no village girl would dress her hair or bosom with the sweetest flower from that field of death: and after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/for-a-long-time-no-village-girl-would-dress-her-hair-or-bosom-with/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Music can minister to minds diseased, pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, raze out the written troubles of the brain, and with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/music-can-minister-to-minds-diseased-pluck-from-the-memory-a-rooted/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The proud spirit of the original owners of these vast prairies inherited through centuries of fierce and bloody wars for their possession, lingered last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/the-proud-spirit-of-the-original-owners-of-these-vast-prairies/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/a-father-may-turn-his-back-on-his-child-brothers-and-sisters-may/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Deliberate long before thou consecrate a friend, and when thy impartial justice concludes him worthy of thy bosom, receive him joyfully, and entertain him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/deliberate-long-before-thou-consecrate-a-friend-and-when-thy/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after death of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-world-of-imagination-is-the-world-of-eternity-it-is-the-divine/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The soul whose bosom lust did never touch Is God's fair bride; and maiden's souls are such.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tertullian/the-soul-whose-bosom-lust-did-never-touch-is-god-s-fair-bride-and/) [Tertullian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tertullian/) > [Cover that bosom that I must not see: souls are wounded by such things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/cover-that-bosom-that-i-must-not-see-souls-are-wounded-by-such-things/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## More by Isaac Barrow > [No adversity is in kind or degree peculiar to us; but if we survey the conditions of other men (of our brethren everywhere, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/no-adversity-is-in-kind-or-degree-peculiar-to-us-but-if-we-survey-the/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [An accomplished mathematician, i.e. a most wretched orator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/an-accomplished-mathematician-i-e-a-most-wretched-orator/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [We may be as good as we please, if we please to be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/we-may-be-as-good-as-we-please-if-we-please-to-be-good/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [If we desire to live securely, comfortably, and quietly, that by all honest means we should endeavor to purchase the good will of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/if-we-desire-to-live-securely-comfortably-and-quietly-that-by-all/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [He that loveth a book will never want a faithful friend, a wholesome counsellor, a cheerful companion, an effectual comforter. By study, by reading,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/he-that-loveth-a-book-will-never-want-a-faithful-friend-a-wholesome/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [Chance never writ a legible book; chance never built a fair house; chance never drew a neat picture; it never did any of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/chance-never-writ-a-legible-book-chance-never-built-a-fair-house/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [The proper work of man, the grand drift of human life, is to follow reason, that noble spark kindled in us from heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/the-proper-work-of-man-the-grand-drift-of-human-life-is-to-follow/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [Nothing hath wrought more prejudice to religion, or brought more disparagement upon truth, than boisterous and unseasonable zeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/nothing-hath-wrought-more-prejudice-to-religion-or-brought-more/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [Upright simplicity is the deepest wisdom, and perverse craft the merest shallowness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/upright-simplicity-is-the-deepest-wisdom-and-perverse-craft-the/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [Every ear is tickled with the sweet music of applause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/every-ear-is-tickled-with-the-sweet-music-of-applause/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [The fruits of the earth do not more obviously require labor and cultivation to prepare them for our use and subsistence, than our faculties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/the-fruits-of-the-earth-do-not-more-obviously-require-labor-and/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [It is commonly said that revenge is sweet, but to a calm and considerate mind, patience and forgiveness are sweeter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/it-is-commonly-said-that-revenge-is-sweet-but-to-a-calm-and/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [Because Mathematicians frequently make use of Time, they ought to have a distinct idea of the meaning of that Word, otherwise they are Quacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/because-mathematicians-frequently-make-use-of-time-they-ought-to-have/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [We should allow others' excellences, to preserve a modest opinion of our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/we-should-allow-others-excellences-to-preserve-a-modest-opinion-of/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [Wherefore for the public interest and benefit of human society it is requisite that the highest obligations possible should be laid upon the consciences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/wherefore-for-the-public-interest-and-benefit-of-human-society-it-is/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) [Explore all 50 Isaac Barrow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) ## 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She reclined her seat, and listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/in-the-parking-lot-she-drove-and-parked-in-a-dark-area-with-no-other/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [It wasn't really touching to be young; it was touching not to be young, because you had less of life left. Touching to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-wasn-t-really-touching-to-be-young-it-was-touching-not-to-be-young/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [I have to meditate before I go to bed, always. I have to let the day go and let the eternal in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bellamy-young/i-have-to-meditate-before-i-go-to-bed-always-i-have-to-let-the-day-go/) [Bellamy Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bellamy-young/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. 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