Müßiggang // Otiosity

„Müßiggang als solcher ist keineswegs eine Wurzel des Übels, im Gegenteil, er ist ein wahrhaft göttliches Leben, wenn man sich nur nicht langweilt.“

„Idleness, we are accustomed to say, is the root of all evil. To prevent this evil, work is recommended.... Idleness as such is by no means a root of evil; on the contrary, it is truly a divine life, if one is not bored.“

– Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or: A Fragment of Life

"On the whole, the enjoyment of leisure is something which decidedly costs less than the enjoyment of luxury. All it requires is an artistic temperament which is bent on seeking a perfectly useless afternoon spent in a perfectly useless manner."

– Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living (1937), P. 153

Often quoted as: 

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

A great overview of the topic:

How do different cultures deal with "time on their hands"? In this cross cultural reflection, Denis Niedringhaus explores varying attitudes towards inactivity from the base of these cultural icebergs and promote the wisdom of learning to sit with oneself in silence.