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Idle Quotes

Thoughts on standing still.

These quotes explore idleness from a few different angles, including being raised toward laziness rather than diligence and the old warning that unused time invites trouble. For a related mood, see the Pause quotes page.

Amazon has suffered quarters-long profit droughts. Alphabet has given its investors agita over profligate spending on non-core products. Microsoft's growth - if not its profit engine - stalled for years, causing its stock to idle, too.

Quotes by Adam Lashinsky

As much pains were taken to make me idle as were ever taken to make me studious.

Quotes by William Wilberforce

It is idle to await unanimity.

Quotes by Robert Dale Owen

The dangers which threaten us are twofold: First, from the Confederate forces, composed of men whose earnest convictions and reckless bravery it is idle to deny.

Quotes by Robert Dale Owen

Emotion Quotes

If any person wish to be idle, let them fall in love.

Quotes by Ovid

All universal moral principles are idle fancies.

Quotes by Marquis de Sade

Idle time is the devil's play.

Quotes by Mark Dayton

The idle always have a mind to do something.

Quotes by Luc de Clapiers

A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.

Khalil Gibran

Inactivity Quotes

How these curiosities would be quite forgot, did not such idle fellowes as I put them down.

Quotes by John Aubrey

I give the name violence to a boldness lying idle and enamored of danger.

Quotes by Jean Genet

As a Jew I cannot sit idle while genocidal atrocities continue to unfold in Darfur, Sudan.

Quotes by Jan Schakowsky

Nostalgia often leads to idle speculation.

Quotes by J. Paul Getty

Idle is the day and lantern the hour as I delight in the splendor of your kiss grog.

Quotes by Isabel Yosito

Pause Quotes

I can't sit idle, as I love to work.

Quotes by Hiten Tejwani

Fortunately, something always remains to be harvested. So let us not be idle.

Quotes by Gustav Mahler

The sure conviction that we could if we wanted to is the reason so many good minds are idle.

Quotes by Georg C. Lichtenberg

Between 1857 and 1929, while regulators largely stood idle, the American economy swung through 19 national boom-and-bust gyrations that sometimes threatened to wipe out whole industries within months.

Quotes by Charles Duhigg

To such idle talk it might further be added: that whenever a certain exclusive occupation is coupled with specific shortcomings, it is likewise almost certainly divorced from certain other shortcomings.

Quotes by Carl Friedrich Gauss

Potential Quotes

The program should know if someone is at the keyboard or joystick or if it is just sitting there idle. It should know if someone is proficient in its use or a novice.

Quotes by Bill Budge

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this idle quotes page cover?
It gathers quotes using the word idle in a few different senses, from personal laziness and wasted time to ideas dismissed as unfounded or hollow, sometimes called idle fancies.
Why do people search for idle quotes?
Readers often look for idle quotes when reflecting on procrastination, unused time, or a period of feeling stuck, wanting language that names that state honestly rather than harshly.
Is idleness always framed negatively in these quotes?
Mostly, yes. Several quotes treat idle time as something to be wary of, including one warning that idle time invites trouble, though the tone stays reflective rather than preachy.
Does idle only mean lazy in this collection?
Not always. One quote uses idle to describe fancies or ideas as unfounded rather than describing a person as lazy, showing the word's range. See the Potential page for a more forward-looking contrast.
Who might relate most to these idle quotes?
Anyone reflecting on a slow period, procrastination, or the gap between potential and effort is likely to find something familiar here, since the quotes treat idleness as a common, relatable state rather than a flaw.

Other lines here dismiss certain ideas as merely "idle fancies," using the word to mean empty or unfounded rather than simply inactive. Readers interested in stillness or untapped ability may also like Inactivity and Potential quotes.