Proverbs 19:15

Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

Idlers and idleness

In the big, busy city, the one who seems out of touch with it is the idler. He who has no other business than the wretched one of killing time has no portion, right, or memorial in it; nor has he any right or portion in the age which we are serving. There is the rich idler, who lives to amuse himself. Such provide the demoralising element in our society. They lead the fashion in vice and frivolity. There is the poor idler. There are some who “for the sake of equalising poverty and wealth would really equalise indolence and industry.” In our great towns, more than half of our poverty is the result, direct or indirect, of that slothfulness which casts into a deep sleep. There is a hereditary pauperism. There is the poverty of recklessness and thoughtlessness and thriftlessness. A third type of idler is the idle-souled. Busy enough with earth, such have no business with heaven, no business with love, no business even with the ideals of duty. Leisure is very different from idleness. There is no leisure at all when the life is spent in idleness. It is the interval between work and work that gives the helpful leisure. Leisure is good, idleness is bad. Above all things, avoid heart indolence, moral and spiritual indolence, the indolence of the soul. (J. Marshall Lang, D. D.)