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| A hundred years of idleness are not worth one hour well employed. French. | 1 |
| A young idler, an old beggar. German. | 2 |
| An idle brain is the devil’s workshop. German. | 3 |
| An idle man is the devil’s bolster. Italian, Dutch. | 4 |
| An idle person is the devil’s playfellow. Arabian. | 5 |
| An idle youth becomes in age a beggar. Latin. | 6 |
An idler is a watch that wants both hands,
As useless when it goes as when it stands. Cowper. | 7 |
| As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean. Coleridge. | 8 |
| As we must render account of every idle word, so must we likewise of our idle silence. Ambrose. | 9 |
| Better lose your labor than your time in idleness. Dutch. | 10 |
| Better to be idle than not well occupied. | 11 |
| By doing nothing we learn to do evil. Latin. | 12 |
| Doing nothing is doing ill. | 13 |
| Employ thyself in anything rather than stand idle. Hesiod. | 14 |
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do. Watts. | 15 |
| He is idle that might be better employed. | 16 |
| He that is busy is tempted but by one devil; he that is idle by a legion. | 17 |
| He who does nothing does ill. French. | 18 |
| He who follows idleness shall find it the path to distress. Sri Lankan. | 19 |
| I would rather be sick than idle. Seneca. | 20 |
| Idle bairns are the devil’s work-houses. | 21 |
| Idle dogs worry sheep. | 22 |
| Idle folks have the least leisure. | 23 |
| Idle folks have the most labor. | 24 |
| Idle folks lack no excuses. | 25 |
| Idle men are the devil’s playfellows. | 26 |
| Idle people take the most pains. | 27 |
| Idleness always envies industry. | 28 |
| Idleness and lust are sworn friends. German. | 29 |
| Idleness has a bad outcome. German. | 30 |
| Idleness has poverty for wages. German. | 31 |
| Idleness is a house out of which all sins come. | 32 |
| Idleness is a living death. German. | 33 |
| Idleness is hunger’s mother, and of theft it is full brother. Dutch. | 34 |
| Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds and the holiday of fools. | 35 |
| Idleness is the beginning of sin. German. | 36 |
| Idleness is the devil’s bolster. Danish. | 37 |
| Idleness is the devil’s couch of ease. German. | 38 |
| Idleness is the greatest prodigality in the world. | 39 |
| Idleness is the key of beggary. | 40 |
| Idleness is the root of all evil. German. | 41 |
| Idleness is the rust of the soul. | 42 |
| Idleness is the sepulchre of a living man. Anselm. | 43 |
| Idleness is the step-mother of virtue. German. | 44 |
| Idleness is the shipwreck of chastity. Latin. | 45 |
| Idleness makes the fullest purse empty. German. | 46 |
| Idleness must thank itself if it go barefoot. | 47 |
| Idleness leads to vice. | 48 |
| Idleness turns the edge of wit. | 49 |
| If the devil catch a man idle he’ll set him to work. | 50 |
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| It is more painful to do nothing than something. | 51 |
| It is only idle people that can find time for everything. Beaumarchais. | 52 |
| No deity assists the idle. Latin. | 53 |
| Of idleness comes no goodness. | 54 |
| The idler’s mind—the devil’s workshop. | 55 |
| They must hunger in frost that will not work in heat. | 56 |
| They must hunger in frost who spring-time have lost. German. | 57 |
| To be idle is to be vicious. Rambler. | 58 |
| To do nothing teacheth to do evil. Dutch. | 59 |
| Troubles spring from idleness and grievous toils from needless ease. Franklin. | 60 |
| Where idleness dwells sickness turns. German. | 61 |
| You’ll soon learn to shape idle a coat. | 62 |
| You may tell an idle fellow if you but see him at dinner. | 63 |
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