Diary 185

Diary 185

Saturday, September 19th

The sign seems to say it all. Except that idling does have its virtues. Dr. Johnson thought so, at least, when he wrote ‘The Idler’ in the Eighteenth Century.  In those days the word meant something closer to thinking freely, outside the box, wondering. I like to think that sort of idling has its uses.

The Eighteenth Century was an intensely busy time, wrapped up in ideas of progress and ‘rational’ improvement — a bit like our time. Perhaps a little more idling might have been good, then and now.