--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The gloomy and the resentful are always…" description: "\"The gloomy and the resentful are always found among those who have nothing to do or who do nothing.\" — Samuel Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/samuel-johnson-50_ennui_the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always_2171922.png" --- # The gloomy and the resentful are always found among those… ![“The gloomy and the resentful are always found among those who have nothing to do or who do nothing.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/samuel-johnson-50_ennui_the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always_2171922.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/samuel-johnson-50_ennui_the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always_2171922.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/samuel-johnson-50_ennui_the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always_2171922.png) > “The gloomy and the resentful are always found among those who have nothing to do or who do nothing.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People who lack purpose become bitter and idle, filling their time with negativity. **In simple terms:** Idle people become bitter. Key Takeaway Find meaningful activity. Themes purpose mindset contentment Mood reflective somber Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - unemployment - retirement - free time - volunteering Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What activities give you meaning? - How can you turn idle time into growth? A Different Perspective Even with purpose, external pressures can cause resentment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ennui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) [Gloomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gloomy/) [Sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sad/) ## Related quotes > [You cannot give me an instance of any man who is permitted to lay out his own time contriving not to have tedious hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-cannot-give-me-an-instance-of-any-man-who-is-permitted-to-lay-out/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Gloomy calm of idle vacancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/gloomy-calm-of-idle-vacancy/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The prospect of penury in age is so gloomy and terrifying that every man who looks before him must resolve to avoid it; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-prospect-of-penury-in-age-is-so-gloomy-and-terrifying-that-every/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [How gloomy would be the mansions of the dead to him who did not know that he should never die: that what now acts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/how-gloomy-would-be-the-mansions-of-the-dead-to-him-who-did-not-know/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [To live without feeling or exciting sympathy, to be fortunate without adding to the felicity of others, or afflicted without tasting the balm of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-live-without-feeling-or-exciting-sympathy-to-be-fortunate-without/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [In narrow and gloomy streets, keep your spirit high!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/in-narrow-and-gloomy-streets-keep-your-spirit-high/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Britannia's shame! There took her gloomy flight, On wing impetuous, a black sullen soul . Less base the fear of death than fear of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/britannia-s-shame-there-took-her-gloomy-flight-on-wing-impetuous-a/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [A gloomy guest fits not a wedding feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/a-gloomy-guest-fits-not-a-wedding-feast/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [I think I'm less gloomy than I used to be - I've got a very supportive other half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-think-i-m-less-gloomy-than-i-used-to-be-i-ve-got-a-very-supportive/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [“From the time I arrived in British East Africa at the indifferent age of four and went through the barefoot stage of early youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/from-the-time-i-arrived-in-british-east-africa-at-the-indifferent-age/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“Sitting to think of what to write will only set your ass on fire, give you headache, twist your face to look stupid, instead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/sitting-to-think-of-what-to-write-will-only-set-your-ass-on-fire-give/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [One receives as reward for much ennui, despondency, boredom -such as a solitude without friends, books, duties, passions must bring with it -those quarter-hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-receives-as-reward-for-much-ennui-despondency-boredom-such-as-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-love-to-read-is-to-exchange-hours-of-ennui-for-hours-of-delight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the aftermath of 9/11, people had not a good time, but a deep, profound, rousing time, woke up from their ennui and isolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/in-the-aftermath-of-9-11-people-had-not-a-good-time-but-a-deep/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [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/) ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Explore all 1,998 Samuel Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More Ennui 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/) > [In the aftermath of 9/11, people had not a good time, but a deep, profound, rousing time, woke up from their ennui and isolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/in-the-aftermath-of-9-11-people-had-not-a-good-time-but-a-deep/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-love-to-read-is-to-exchange-hours-of-ennui-for-hours-of-delight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One receives as reward for much ennui, despondency, boredom -such as a solitude without friends, books, duties, passions must bring with it -those quarter-hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-receives-as-reward-for-much-ennui-despondency-boredom-such-as-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Sitting to think of what to write will only set your ass on fire, give you headache, twist your face to look stupid, instead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/sitting-to-think-of-what-to-write-will-only-set-your-ass-on-fire-give/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [You cannot give me an instance of any man who is permitted to lay out his own time contriving not to have tedious hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-cannot-give-me-an-instance-of-any-man-who-is-permitted-to-lay-out/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“From the time I arrived in British East Africa at the indifferent age of four and went through the barefoot stage of early youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/from-the-time-i-arrived-in-british-east-africa-at-the-indifferent-age/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Pain, indolence, sterility, endless ennui have also their lesson for you, if you are great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/pain-indolence-sterility-endless-ennui-have-also-their-lesson-for-you/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life creates itself in delirium and is undone in ennui.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/life-creates-itself-in-delirium-and-is-undone-in-ennui/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [“She could, she thinks, have entered a different life. She could have had a life as potent and dangerous as literature itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-could-she-thinks-have-entered-a-different-life-she-could-have-had/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [As the gout seems privileged to attack the bodies of the wealthy, so ennui seems to exert a similar prerogative over their minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/as-the-gout-seems-privileged-to-attack-the-bodies-of-the-wealthy-so/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“It seemed to Rosa Lublin that the whole peninsula of Florida was weighted down with regret. Everyone had left behind a real life. Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/it-seemed-to-rosa-lublin-that-the-whole-peninsula-of-florida-was/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [If you want to live in 'white world,' if you want to experience the stultifying boredom and penetrating ennui that homogeneity can bring, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-proops/if-you-want-to-live-in-white-world-if-you-want-to-experience-the/) [Greg Proops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-proops/) > [Rousseau and his disciples were resolved to force men to be free; in most of the world, they triumphed; men are set free from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/rousseau-and-his-disciples-were-resolved-to-force-men-to-be-free-in/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [Condition de l'homme: inconstance, ennui, inquie tude. Man's condition. Inconstancy, boredom, anxiety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/condition-de-l-homme-inconstance-ennui-inquie-tude-man-s-condition/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) [Browse all 132 Ennui quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The gloomy and the resentful are always found among those who have nothing to do or who do nothing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always-found-among-those-who-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ennui" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always-found-among-those-who-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/samuel-johnson-50_ennui_the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always_2171922.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/samuel-johnson-50_ennui_the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always_2171922.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/samuel-johnson-50_ennui_the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always_2171922.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The gloomy and the resentful are always found among those who have nothing to do or who do nothing.” — Samuel Johnson", "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": "Samuel Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The gloomy and the resentful are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always-found-among-those-who-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-gloomy-and-the-resentful-are-always-found-among-those-who-have/#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 } } ] } ```