“Among the idle rich, boredom is one of the most common causes of unhappiness. People who have difficulty in earning their living may suffer greatly, but they are not bored. Wealthy men and women become bored when they depend upon the theater for their enjoyment instead of making their own lives interesting.”

—  André Maurois

Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Happiness

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Among the idle rich, boredom is one of the most common causes of unhappiness. People who have difficulty in earning the…" by André Maurois?
André Maurois photo
André Maurois202
French writer 1885–1967

Related quotes

Dorothy Canfield Fisher photo

“… there are two ways to meet life; you may refuse to care until indifference becomes a habit, a defensive armor, and you are safe - but bored. Or you can care greatly, live greatly, until life breaks you on its wheel.”

Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879–1958) American author and social activist

Stendhal photo

“A strange effect of marriage, such as the nineteenth century has made it! The boredom of married life inevitably destroys love, when love has preceded marriage. And yet, as a philosopher has observed, it speedily brings about, among people who are rich enough not to have to work, an intense boredom with all quiet forms of enjoyment. And it is only dried up hearts, among women, that it does not predispose to love.”

Stendhal book The Red and the Black

Étrange effet du mariage, tel que l'a fait le XIXe siècle! L'ennui de la vie matrimoniale fait périr l'amour sûrement, quand l'amour a précédé le mariage. Et cependant, dirait un philosophe, il amène bientôt chez les gens assez riches pour ne pas travailler, l'ennui profond de toutes les jouissances tranquilles. Et ce n'est que les âmes sèches parmi les femmes qu'il ne prédispose pas à l'amour.
Vol. I, ch. XXIII
Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) (1830)

Lin Yutang photo

“No, the enjoyment of an idle life doesn't cost any money. The capacity for true enjoyment of idleness is lost in the moneyed class and can be found only among people who have a supreme contempt for wealth. It must come from an inner richness of the soul in a man who loves the simple ways of life and who is somewhat impatient with the business of making money.”

Lin Yutang book The Importance of Living

Source: The Importance of Living (1937), p. 155

Douglas Coupland photo

“Why do most of us make such boring choices for the stories of our lives? How hard can it be to change gears and say, "You know what? Instead of inventing and telling stories, I’m going to make my life a more interesting story."”

Douglas Coupland book Generation A

Source: Generation A (2009), p. 177

Edith Sitwell photo

“I am one of those unhappy persons who inspire bores to the greatest flights of art.”

Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) British poet

As quoted in An Uncommon Scold (1989) by Abby Adams, p. 226

Vilfredo Pareto photo

“Among civilized peoples, especially the very wealthy population of the United States of America, women have become objects of luxury who consume but do not produce.”

Vilfredo Pareto book Manual of Political Economy

page 297.
Manual of Political Economy

John W. Gardner photo

“We have to face the fact that most men and women out there are more stale than they know, more bored than they care to admit.”

John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American politician

Quoted in "Self Renewal" (1964).

Anton Chekhov photo

“It seems to me that all of the evil in life comes from idleness, boredom, and psychic emptiness, but all of that is inevitable when you become accustomed to living at others’ expense.”

Anton Chekhov book My Life

My Life (1896)

Bertrand Russell photo

“Patience and boredom are closely related. Boredom, a certain kind of boredom, is really impatience. You don't like the way things are, they aren't interesting enough for you, so you deccide- and boredom is a decision-that you are bored.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

Related topics