All the evil in this world is brought about by persons who are always up and doing, but do not know when they ought to be up and nor what they ought to be doing. The devil, I take it, is still the busiest creature in the universe, and I can quite imagine him denouncing laziness and becoming angry at the smallest waste of time. In his kingdom, I will bet, nobody is allowed to do nothing, not even for a single afternoon. The world, we all freely admit, is in a muddle, but I for one do not think that it is laziness that has brought it to such a pass. It is not the active virtues that it lacks but the passive ones: it is capable of anything but kindness and a little steady thought. There is still plenty of energy in the world(there never were more fussy people about), but most of it is simply misdirected. If ,for example, in July 1914, when there was some capital idling weather, everybody-- emperors, kings, archdukes, statesmen, generals, journalists, had been suddenly struck with an intense desire to do nothing, just to hang about in the sunshine and consume tobacco, then we should all have been much better off than we are now. But no, the doctrine of the strenuous life still went unchallenged; there must be no time wasted, something must be done. And, as we know, something was done. Again, suppose our statesmen, instead of rushing off to Versailles with a bundle of ill-digested notions and a great deal of energy to dissipate, had all taken a fortnight off, away from all correspondence and interviews and what not, and had simply lounged about on some hill side or other apparently doing nothing for the first time in their energetic lives, then they might have gone to their so-called Peace Conference and come away again with their reputations still unsoiled and the affairs of the world in good trim. Even at the present time, if half the politicians in Europe would relinquish the notion that laziness is a crime and go away and do nothing for a little space, we should certainly gain by it. Other examples come crowding into the mind. Thus, every now and then, certain religious sects hold conferences; but though there are evils abroad that are mountains high, though the fate of civilization is still doubtful, the members who attend these conferences spend their time condemning the length of ladies' skirts and the noisiness of dance bands. They would all be better employed lying flat on their backs somewhere, staring at the sky and recovering their mental health.

Passiveness: a need of the world

The idea that idleness is a vice is responsible for driving the world in the state of mess. That time must never be wasted has resulted in actions lacking forethought. That men must never be at rest has led them to focus their energies in the wrong place and at wrong times. Major crises of the world have borne out of the sudden rush to action. The world would benefit greatly if the political and religious authorities took some time off, did nothing for a while and recovered their state of mind.