“Far from idleness being the root of all evil, it is rather the only true good.”
Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism
“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….”
Source: Either/Or: A Fragment of Life
Last update June 3, 2021. History
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Sören Kierkegaard309
Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism 1813–1855Related quotes
“The love of money is the root of all evil."
The lack of money is the root of all evil.”
Robert T. Kiyosaki (1947) American finance author , investor
Source: Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Children About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Don't
“The lack of money is the root of all evil.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
This appears in Twain's posthumous The Refuge of the Derelicts (1905), but it had already been published by other writers. <br class="br">The earliest citation found in Google Books is a 1872 article by Richard Bowker: "Our Crime Against Crimes" https://books.google.com/books?id=YZgBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA68&dq=The+lack+of+money+is+the+root+of+all+evil&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWi5DE1crLAhUI3mMKHeSdB0YQ6AEIKzAB#v=onepage&q=%22lack%20of%20money%22&f=false, in The Herald of Health, vol. 19 no. 2, New York: Wood & Holbrook, February 1872. The saying is placed within quotation marks, perhaps indicating that it was already well-known. <br class="br">A precursor is found in an article from 1859 https://books.google.com/books?id=gpdEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA209&dq=The+lack+of+money+is+the+root+of+all+evil&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWi5DE1crLAhUI3mMKHeSdB0YQ6AEINTAD#v=onepage&q=%22lack%20of%20gold%22&f=false: It is very well to repeat, parrot-like, the old axiom that “the love of gold is the root of all evil;” but it is very certain that in truth—the lack of gold is the great incentive to crime. <br class="br">Disputed
“Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.”
Plato (-427–-347 BC) Classical Greek philosopher
Attributed to Plato on quotes sites but never sourced.
Disputed
“Premature optimization is the root of all evil.”
C. A. R. Hoare (1934) British computer scientist
Quote due to Donald Knuth, "Structured Programming with Goto Statements" http://pplab.snu.ac.kr/courses/adv_pl05/papers/p261-knuth.pdf, Computing Surveys 6:4 (December 1974), pp. 261–301, §1. Knuth refers to it as "Hoare's Dictum" 15 years later in "The Errors of TeX", Software—Practice & Experience 19:7 (July 1989), pp. 607–685. However, the attribution to Hoare is doubtful. http://shreevatsa.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/premature-optimization-is-the-root-of-all-evil/ <br class="br">Attributed
“Irrationality is the square root of all evil.”
Douglas Hofstadter (1945) American professor of cognitive science
"Irrationality is the Square Root of All Evil" (Sep, 1983) Scientific American 249 (3) article reprinted in Metamagical Themas (1985)
“Of what use to destroy the children of evil? It is evil itself we must destroy at the roots.”
Eleanor Farjeon book Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard
Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard (1922)