For Part One or Part Two of this series, click the appropriate link.
The Quote
A great thinker of our modern day
supports the statement of the Lord concerning idleness,
for said he:
“When a man shuns effort,
he is in no position to resist temptation.
So, through all the ages, idleness has been known as the parent of all the vices. …
The dry rot of ennui,
the vague self-disgust of those who cannot ‘deal with time,’
is the natural result of idleness. …
The indolent ennui of the hopelessly rich
and the indolent misery of the helplessly poor
have this much in common. …
‘Life drives him hard’ who has nothing in the world to do.”
(David Starr Jordan, The Strength of Being Clean [New York and Boston: H.M. Caldwell Co., 1900], pp. 18–19.)
I'm learning to appreciate a good, clear reference when I find one these days.
So I went in search of David Starr Jordan and his book. Turns out he was the first president of Stanford University, impressive enough all by itself.
A supporter of the eugenics movement...not so great.
His book, The Strength of Being Clean, has its own website, where the book can be found for free. It's very short - only about 20 pages - and is billed as 'an owner's manual to the human soul' and 'a primer of traditional American values'.
How could I not read this?
And now, having read it, I find it full of really interesting ideas. No eugenics, thank goodness, at least not in this.
He's got some ideas about women that are normal for the time this was written. I can forgive him that.
Other than that, I'm glad his book was preserved, and I can recommend it without any other hesitation for reading.
The quote mentioned in the talk comes from his five short cuts to happiness. The first is labeled, 'indolence' -
This is the attempt to secure the pleasures of rest
without the effort that justifies rest and makes it welcome.
When a man shuns effort, he is in no position to resist temptation.
So through all the ages
idleness has been known as the parent of all the vices.
“Life drives him hard” who has nothing in the world to do.
The dry-rot of ennui, the vague self-disgust of those who cannot “deal with time,”
is the natural result of idleness.
It is said that “the very fiends weave ropes of sand,
rather than face pure hell in idleness.”
It is only where even such poor effort is impossible
that absolute misery can be found.
The indolent ennui of the hopelessly rich
and the indolent misery of the helplessly poor have this much in common.
The quest for happiness is become a passive thing,
waiting for joy that never comes.
But life can never remain passive.
That only is passive which is dead, and all the many evils of life
come through the open door of unresisted temptation.
