--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Where did the idea come from that we…" description: "\"“Where did the idea come from that we should take life so seriously, anyway? Why should a man be such a slave to his breadwinning? We ought to be able ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/orison-swett-marden-711_every-day_where-did-the-idea-come-from-that-we-sho_1545860.jpg" --- # Where did the idea come from that we should take life so… ![“Where did the idea come from that we should take life so seriously, anyway? Why should a man be such a slave to his breadwinning? We ought to be able to get a good living, even to make fortunes, and yet have a good time every day of our lives. This idea of being a slave most of the time, and of…” quote by Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/orison-swett-marden-711_every-day_where-did-the-idea-come-from-that-we-sho_1545860.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/orison-swett-marden-711_every-day_where-did-the-idea-come-from-that-we-sho_1545860.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/orison-swett-marden-711_every-day_where-did-the-idea-come-from-that-we-sho_1545860.jpg) > ““Where did the idea come from that we should take life so seriously, anyway? Why should a man be such a slave to his breadwinning? We ought to be able to get a good living, even to make fortunes, and yet have a good time every day of our lives. This idea of being a slave most of the time, and of only occasionally enjoying a holiday, is all wrong.”” [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life shouldn't be a relentless grind; balance work with joy and leisure. **In simple terms:** Work hard but enjoy life. Key Takeaway Seek balance between effort and pleasure. Themes work‑life balance joy productivity fulfillment Mood reflective optimistic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - entrepreneurship - vacation planning - daily routines - financial goals Key Concepts economics philosophy well‑being Questions to Reflect On - How can you integrate joy into daily tasks? - What does a fulfilling day look like for you? A Different Perspective Societal pressure may glorify overwork. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Every day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-day/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lives Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-idea-712373/) [Man Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-slave/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slave Breadwinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-breadwinning-5767389/) [Slave Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-time-2245142/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I wonder why some people seem to be born knowing what they want to do with their lives and others - mostly me -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wonder-why-some-people-seem-to-be-born-knowing-what-they-want-to-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you think too much about the future, about seeing me again, you won't exprience anything. You'll just be a slave to time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-kacvinsky/if-you-think-too-much-about-the-future-about-seeing-me-again-you-won/) [Katie Kacvinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-kacvinsky/) > [“Your grandma was a slave once upon a time make her feel free”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martellis-thurmand/your-grandma-was-a-slave-once-upon-a-time-make-her-feel-free/) [Martellis Thurmand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martellis-thurmand/) > [We created time, and now we have become the slave of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-buscaglia/we-created-time-and-now-we-have-become-the-slave-of-time/) [Leo Buscaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-buscaglia/) > [Man becomes a slave to his constantly repeated acts. What he at first chooses, at last compels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/man-becomes-a-slave-to-his-constantly-repeated-acts-what-he-at-first/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“The lazy man is the slave of his own feelings. His body is his master; not his servant. He is the slave of circumstances.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-dewitt-hyde/the-lazy-man-is-the-slave-of-his-own-feelings-his-body-is-his-master/) [William Dewitt Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-dewitt-hyde/) > [The weak-minded man is the slave of his vices and the dupe of his virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-antoine-petit-senn/the-weak-minded-man-is-the-slave-of-his-vices-and-the-dupe-of-his/) [Jean Antoine Petit-Senn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-antoine-petit-senn/) > [“Woman is to man as the slave to the master, the manual to the mental worker, the barbarian to the Greek. Woman is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/woman-is-to-man-as-the-slave-to-the-master-the-manual-to-the-mental/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“To have done great things together, to want to do more, such are the essential conditions to form a people. . . . Man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-renan/to-have-done-great-things-together-to-want-to-do-more-such-are-the/) [Ernest Renan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-renan/) > [I am a free man, the slave of Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-a-free-man-the-slave-of-christ/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Tremble not before the free man, but before the slave who has chains to break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/tremble-not-before-the-free-man-but-before-the-slave-who-has-chains/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [A slave is a free man if he is content with his lot; a free man is a slave if he seeks more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-slave-is-a-free-man-if-he-is-content-with-his-lot-a-free-man-is-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only freedom that man ever has is when he becomes a slave to Jesus Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/the-only-freedom-that-man-ever-has-is-when-he-becomes-a-slave-to/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [“Some would know Why I so Long still doe tarry, And ask why Here that I Live, and not marry? Thus I those Doe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/some-would-know-why-i-so-long-still-doe-tarry-and-ask-why-here-that-i/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [In the end what separates a man from a slave? Money? Power? No, a man chooses, and a slave obeys!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-end-what-separates-a-man-from-a-slave-money-power-no-a-man/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Orison Swett Marden > [“We can so educate the will power that it will focus the thoughts upon the bright side of things, and upon objects which elevate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/we-can-so-educate-the-will-power-that-it-will-focus-the-thoughts-upon/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“Gulliver was a giant whom the dwarfs captured while he was napping by binding him with tiny threads. Each thread was a trifle which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/gulliver-was-a-giant-whom-the-dwarfs-captured-while-he-was-napping-by/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“The hatred thought cannot live an instant in the presence of the love thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-hatred-thought-cannot-live-an-instant-in-the-presence-of-the-love/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“About as poor business as one can engage in is that of going through life with one's eyes so fixed upon what others have,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/about-as-poor-business-as-one-can-engage-in-is-that-of-going-through/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“We tend to get what we expect, and if we expect nothing we get nothing. The stream cannot rise higher than its fountainhead;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/we-tend-to-get-what-we-expect-and-if-we-expect-nothing-we-get-nothing/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [There never will be a trust in excellence or a combination in superiority. As long as you can do a thing a little better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-never-will-be-a-trust-in-excellence-or-a-combination-in/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [There are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-are-powers-inside-of-you-which-if-you-could-discover-and-use/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Most men fail, not through lack of education or agreeable personal qualities, but from lack of dogged determination, from lack of dauntless will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/most-men-fail-not-through-lack-of-education-or-agreeable-personal/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Something greater than wealth, grander even than fame — that manhood, character, stand for success, and that nothing else really does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/something-greater-than-wealth-grander-even-than-fame-that-manhood/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“The universe is one great kindergarten. Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson. The mountain teaches stability and grandeur; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-universe-is-one-great-kindergarten-everything-that-exists-has/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [If you want to enlarge your life, you must first enlarge your thought of it and of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/if-you-want-to-enlarge-your-life-you-must-first-enlarge-your-thought/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [The moment man cuts himself off from living connection with the human race and its needs, he begins to die from poor circulation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-moment-man-cuts-himself-off-from-living-connection-with-the-human/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“There is something inside of a man which protests against doing that which tends to injure another, that which does not square with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-is-something-inside-of-a-man-which-protests-against-doing-that/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [A good system shortens the road to the goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/a-good-system-shortens-the-road-to-the-goal/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Keep fear out of your child's mind, as you would keep poison out of his body; for fear is the deadliest of mental poisons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/keep-fear-out-of-your-child-s-mind-as-you-would-keep-poison-out-of/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) [Explore all 396 Orison Swett Marden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) ## More Every day quotes > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. 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You don't want to die for love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvie-guillem/on-stage-you-can-bring-all-those-strong-emotions-that-you-don-t-have/) [Sylvie Guillem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvie-guillem/) > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think naturally I've been kind of a lead-by-doing guy. Just showing up to work every day. You never ask teammates something you wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrell-suggs/i-think-naturally-i-ve-been-kind-of-a-lead-by-doing-guy-just-showing/) [Terrell Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrell-suggs/) > [Love is the Key started in 1994 with a simple idea: that Love is the Key that would open all the doors in life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/love-is-the-key/love-is-the-key-started-in-1994-with-a-simple-idea-that-love-is-the/) [Love Is The Key®](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/love-is-the-key/) > [Being under-recruited coming out of Highland, I've carried that with me. I keep pushing forward, keep working hard every day, keep my head on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-daniels/being-under-recruited-coming-out-of-highland-i-ve-carried-that-with/) [Mike Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-daniels/) > [“(one would say yes, if not every day, at least fairly regularly), whether only for yourself or also for others (often only for yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/one-would-say-yes-if-not-every-day-at-least-fairly-regularly-whether/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Are you sure?" he asked in a low voice. "Because if I had the chance... I would spend every moment of every day with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-monir/are-you-sure-he-asked-in-a-low-voice-because-if-i-had-the-chance-i/) [Alexandra Monir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-monir/) > [I don't think I've ever bench-pressed anything in my life. Until about two years ago I swam a mile almost every day. Then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-antosca/i-don-t-think-i-ve-ever-bench-pressed-anything-in-my-life-until-about/) [Nick Antosca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-antosca/) > [I have to justify my job every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-silva/i-have-to-justify-my-job-every-day/) [Marco Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-silva/) > [Merlin' was awesome, but the costumes would drive you insane. Every day, you'd get into chain mail and wear 30 pounds of that stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-macken/merlin-was-awesome-but-the-costumes-would-drive-you-insane-every-day/) [Eoin Macken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-macken/) > [This cold weather has set all the young Folks to providing Bedfellows. I have signed two or three Licences every Day \[as a Fairfax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/this-cold-weather-has-set-all-the-young-folks-to-providing-bedfellows/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Browse all 16,614 Every day quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-day/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Where did the idea come from that we should take life so seriously, anyway? Why should a man be such a slave to his breadwinning? We ought to be able to get a good living, even to make fortunes, and yet have a good time every day of our lives. 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