Quote#Work
Their only labour was to kill the time
Quote byJames Thomson · 1700–1748
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Castle of Indolence (1748), Canto I, Stanza 72.
English (original)
Their only labour was to kill the time; And labour dire it is, and weary woe, They sit, they loll, turn o'er some idle rhyme, Then, rising sudden, to the glass they go, Or saunter forth, with tottering steps and slow.
— James Thomson
More from James Thomson
When Britain first, at Heaven's command, Arose from out the azure main, This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung this strain: 'Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.'
O Sophonisba! Sophonisba, O!
Forever, Fortune, wilt thou prove An unrelenting foe to love, And, when we meet a mutual heart, Come in between and bid us part?
At the throng'd levee bends the venal tribe: With fair but faithless smiles each varnish'd o'er, Each smooth as those that mutually deceive, And for their falsehood each despising each.
Whoe'er amidst the sons Of reason, valour, liberty, and virtue Displays distinguish'd merit, is a noble Of Nature's own creating.
These as they change, Almighty Father! these Are but the varied God. The rolling year Is full of Thee.