“In using the terms play and playfulness, I do not intend to suggest any lack of seriousness; quite the contrary. Anyone who has watched children, or adults, at play will recognize that there is no contradiction between play and seriousness, and that some forms of play induce a measure of grave concentration not so readily called forth by work.”
Source: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (1974), p. 30
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Richard Hofstadter 34
American historian 1916–1970Related quotes

“"I quit. I can't play anymore. I lack the desire to do it. "”
Parei. Não dá mais. Não tenho mais vontade.
Source: Veja Magazine; 1886 Edition. January 5th, 2005.
Context: Announcing his retirement.

“Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.”
Variant: The maturity of man—that means, to have reacquired the seriousness that one had as a child at play
Source: Beyond Good and Evil

Source: Fallen Leaves (2014), Ch. 1 : Our life begins

telegraph.co.uk http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/10863146/Lang-Lang-Weve-never-met.html
Section 1.3 <!-- p. 10 -->
The Crosswicks Journal, A Circle of Quiet (1972)
Context: The concentration of a small child at play is analogous to the concentration of the artist of any discipline. In real play, which is real concentration, the child is not only outside time, he is outside himself. He has thrown himself completely into whatever it is he is doing. A child playing a game, building a sand castle, painting a picture, is completely in what he is doing. His self-consciousness is gone; his consciousness is wholly focused outside himself.

On turning down the roles Hollywood was offering to her in “Tessa Thompson: ‘I decided not to work until I burned for something’” https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/16/tessa-thompson-interview-decided-not-to-work-until-i-burned-for-something in The Guardian (2018 Feb 16)