None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
The really efficient laborer will be found not to crowd his day with work, but will saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Efficiency comes from a relaxed approach rather than a hurried one.
In this quote, Thoreau emphasizes that true efficiency is not about being constantly busy or overwhelmed with tasks. Instead, an efficient worker finds a balanced and leisurely approach to their work, allowing them to be productive while also enjoying the process, suggesting that a calm mentality can lead to better outcomes.
Themes
EfficiencyLeisureWorkBalanceProductivity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can inspire a team meeting focused on work-life balance.
More from Henry David Thoreau
All quotes βThrough want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
Henry David ThoreauRead
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
Henry David ThoreauRead
As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
Henry David ThoreauRead
That grand old poem called Winter
Henry David ThoreauRead
Similar quotes
The river has taught me to listen; you will learn from it, too. The river knows everything; one can learn everything from it. You have already learned from the river that it is good to strive downwards, to sink, to seek the depths.
Hermann HesseRead
Ask yourself not if this or that is expedient, but if it is right.
Alan PatonRead
Here is a most significant fact-the subconscious mind takes any orders given it in a spirit of absolute FAITH, and acts upon those orders, although the orders often have to be presented over and over again, through repetition, before they are interpreted by the subconscious mind.
Napoleon HillRead
[T]he values to which people cling most stubbornly under inappropriate conditions are those values that were previously the source of their greatest triumphs.
Jared DiamondRead
Know your true measurements and dress your mind accordingly
J. D. SalingerRead
Before we can be cured we must want to be cured. Those who really wish for help will get it; but for many modern people even the wish is difficult.
C. S. LewisRead