“In your hours of work you make a living. In your hours of leisure you make a life.” ~Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954)
Were you surprised at the vintage of that quotation? I was.
Justice Jackson made that statement in a 1930 commencement address, urging the graduating seniors not to get caught up in vapid amusements, the “spend and spend and spend” mentality of the age or conformity to the crowd and commercialism. While a few of his remarks are notably sexist or dated, much of his message is as relevant today as it was in 1930.
Here is another brief passage:
“We live in an age of extreme busyness, of high pressure and speed. It hardens our faces and blights our souls. You should not mistake mere motion for progress, mere activity for achievement.”
In the current age, it is not easy to avoid extreme busyness, high pressure and speed. Unless you are a hermit, life conspires to make us rush around at ever faster speeds. I invite you to enjoy a moment of true leisure today – and use that moment to plan more moments, and to think about how to use your “leisure” (i.e., non-working) hours in a truly fulfilling way.
If you’d like to read the entire speech, here the link: http://www.stjohns.edu/media/3/d7babbf5f8624c76ae93f45f81ee05fd.pdf?d=20100907
