---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My mind works in idleness. To do nothing…"
description: "\"My mind works in idleness. To do nothing is often my most profitable way.\" — Virginia Woolf"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4d/virginia-woolf-49_happiness_my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing_858599.jpg"
---

#  My mind works in idleness. To do nothing is often my most…

![“My mind works in idleness. To do nothing is often my most profitable way.” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4d/virginia-woolf-49_happiness_my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing_858599.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4d/virginia-woolf-49_happiness_my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing_858599.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4d/virginia-woolf-49_happiness_my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing_858599.jpg)

> “My mind works in idleness. To do nothing is often my most profitable way.”

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

## About This Quote

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

Idle contemplation can be more valuable than constant activity.

**In simple terms:** Doing nothing can yield profitable insights.

Key Takeaway

Allow time for thoughtful idleness.

Themes

idleness reflection productivity

Mood

contemplative calm

Type

philosophical creative

When to use this quote

- writing
- creative brainstorming
- problem solving
- personal development

Key Concepts

philosophy of work mindful rest

Questions to Reflect On

- When does idleness become counterproductive?
- How can you turn idle time into insight?

A Different Perspective

Too much idleness may lead to stagnation.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Idleness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idleness/) [Idleness Profitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idleness-profitable-828643/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Procrastination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/procrastination/) [Profitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profitable/) [Profitable Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profitable-way-828645/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Works Idleness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-idleness-828644/)

## Related quotes

> [Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-edwards/resolved-never-to-lose-one-moment-of-time-but-improve-it-the-most/)

[Jonathan Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-edwards/)

> [There is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works: in Idleness alone is there perpetual despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/there-is-always-hope-in-a-man-that-actually-and-earnestly-works-in/)

[Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/)

> [He who saddens at thought of idleness cannot be idle, / And he's awake who thinks himself asleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/he-who-saddens-at-thought-of-idleness-cannot-be-idle-and-he-s-awake/)

[John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/)

> [Rather do what is nothing to the purpose than be idle; that the devil may find thee doing. The bird that sits is easily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/rather-do-what-is-nothing-to-the-purpose-than-be-idle-that-the-devil/)

[Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/)

> [The idle brain is the devil's playground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-lange/the-idle-brain-is-the-devil-s-playground/)

[Eric Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-lange/)

> [It can be set down as a broad, general principle that we cannot indulge in idleness and abundance during both the first and second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/it-can-be-set-down-as-a-broad-general-principle-that-we-cannot/)

[B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/)

> [Wasting time is negative, but there is something positive about idleness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/wasting-time-is-negative-but-there-is-something-positive-about/)

[Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/)

> [The reason of idleness and of crime is the deferring of our hopes. Whilst we are waiting, we beguile the time with jokes, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-reason-of-idleness-and-of-crime-is-the-deferring-of-our-hopes/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Idleness is an expert thief,and our mind is its victim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abid-al-qarni/idleness-is-an-expert-thief-and-our-mind-is-its-victim/)

[Abid Al Qarni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abid-al-qarni/)

> [Timing is everything. Tell me how a young man spends his evenings and I will tell you how far he is likely to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/timing-is-everything-tell-me-how-a-young-man-spends-his-evenings-and/)

[B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/)

> [“Reality has a tendency to reveal itself when man is idle, and so it is because of this that idleness is often regarded as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/reality-has-a-tendency-to-reveal-itself-when-man-is-idle-and-so-it-is/)

[VD](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vd/)

> [Idleness is paralysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roswell-dwight-hitchcock/idleness-is-paralysis/)

[Roswell Dwight Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roswell-dwight-hitchcock/)

> [“Liza had a finely developed sense of sin Idleness was a sin, and card playing, which was a kind of idleness to her. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/liza-had-a-finely-developed-sense-of-sin-idleness-was-a-sin-and-card/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [The frivolous work of polished idleness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mackintosh/the-frivolous-work-of-polished-idleness/)

[James Mackintosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mackintosh/)

> [“Idleness is seductive. Just relax and do nothing, it says.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/innocent-mwatsikesimbe/idleness-is-seductive-just-relax-and-do-nothing-it-says/)

[Innocent Mwatsikesimbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/innocent-mwatsikesimbe/)

## More by Virginia Woolf

> [Fatigue is the safest sleeping draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fatigue-is-the-safest-sleeping-draught/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“The train slows and lengthens, as we approach London, the centre, and my heart draws out too, in fear, in exaltation. I am about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-train-slows-and-lengthens-as-we-approach-london-the-centre-and-my/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“Across the broad continent of a woman's life falls the shadow of a sword. On one side all is correct, definite, orderly; the paths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/across-the-broad-continent-of-a-woman-s-life-falls-the-shadow-of-a/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“Other worshipful objects were content with worship; men, women, God, all let one kneel prostrate; but this form, were it only the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/other-worshipful-objects-were-content-with-worship-men-women-god-all/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [Why does Samuel Butler say, 'Wise men never say what they think of women'? Wise men never say anything else apparently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/why-does-samuel-butler-say-wise-men-never-say-what-they-think-of/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“Sometimes he woke with a brain like lead; at others it was as if a thousand wax tapers were alight and people were throwing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/sometimes-he-woke-with-a-brain-like-lead-at-others-it-was-as-if-a/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [The extraordinary woman depends on the ordinary woman. It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [A veil of insanity everywhere: Oh why I was born in this age? It is a terrible age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-veil-of-insanity-everywhere-oh-why-i-was-born-in-this-age-it-is-a/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [Love ought to stop on both sides, don’t you think, simultaneously?’ He spoke without any stress on the words, so as not to wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/love-ought-to-stop-on-both-sides-don-t-you-think-simultaneously-he/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“It is so vast an alleviation to be able to point for another to look at. And then not to talk. To follow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-so-vast-an-alleviation-to-be-able-to-point-for-another-to-look/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“What a vast fertility of pleasure books hold for me! (...) I think I could happily live here &amp; read forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-vast-fertility-of-pleasure-books-hold-for-me-i-think-i-could/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“what a luxury to be alone once more,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-luxury-to-be-alone-once-more/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“...a woman writing thinks back through her mothers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-woman-writing-thinks-back-through-her-mothers/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“For one's children so often gave one's own perceptions a little thrust forwards.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-one-s-children-so-often-gave-one-s-own-perceptions-a-little/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“She would not say of anyone in the world now that they were this or were that. She felt very young; at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-would-not-say-of-anyone-in-the-world-now-that-they-were-this-or/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

[Explore all 1,872 Virginia Woolf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

## More Happiness quotes

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

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

> [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/)

[Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/)

> [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/)

[Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/)

> [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/)

[MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/)

> [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/)

[Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/)

> [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/)

[Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/)

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/)

[Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/)

> [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/)

[Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/)

> [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/)

[Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/)

> [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/)

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

> [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/)

[Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/)

> [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/)

> [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/)

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

> [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/)

[Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/)

[Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "My mind works in idleness. To do nothing is often my most profitable way.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Virginia Woolf"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing-is-often-my-most-profitable/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Happiness"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing-is-often-my-most-profitable/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4d/virginia-woolf-49_happiness_my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing_858599.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4d/virginia-woolf-49_happiness_my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing_858599.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4d/virginia-woolf-49_happiness_my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing_858599.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“My mind works in idleness. To do nothing is often my most profitable way.” — Virginia Woolf",
                "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": "Virginia Woolf",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "My mind works in idleness. To...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing-is-often-my-most-profitable/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/my-mind-works-in-idleness-to-do-nothing-is-often-my-most-profitable/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
