Tom Hodgkinson

Tom Hodgkinson (born 1968) is a British writer and the editor of The Idler, which he established in 1993 with his friend Gavin Pretor-Pinney.

Sourced

• It is a common myth that idlers are incapable of working. The term “idler” is used as a pejorative by the forces of dullness and authority as they like the idea that idleness equates to evil, and they want society at large to despise the idler. The non-idler cannot understand the paradox of the working idler. He likes things to be simple: you are either working, or not working.
  • “Idleness and Industry,” The Idler.

• Another characteristic of the idler's work is that it looks suspiciously like play. This, again, makes the non-idler feel uncomfortable. Victims of the Protestant work ethic would like all work to be unpleasant. They feel that work is a curse, that we must suffer on this earth to earn our place in the next. The idler, on the other hand, sees no reason not to use his brain to organise a life for himself where his play is his work, and so attempt to create his own little paradise in the here and now.
  • “Idleness and Industry,” The Idler.

• The reason laziness is rarely pushed as a lifestyle option is down to one simple reason: money. There are fortunes to be made out of active lifestyles. Gyms charge fees. But no one is going to make money out of sleep. It is free
  • free of charge sayings (?)

Quotes

• "All of our technology is completely unnecessary to a happy life"
  • Tom Hodgkinson cited in: Hello philosophy
• "When walking, you see things that you miss in a motor car or on the train. You give your mind space to ponder"
  • Tom Hodgkinson, cited in: All great quotes