“The opposite of work is idleness. But very few of us know what to do with idleness. When you look at the way that we distribute our lives in general, you realize that in the periods in which we have a lot of money, we have very little time. And then when we finally have time, we have neither the money nor the health.”

— Ricardo Semler

TED: "How to run a company with (almost) no rules" https://www.ted.com/talks/ricardo_semler_how_to_run_a_company_with_almost_no_rules/ (October 2014)

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Ricardo Semler 10

Brazilian businessman 1959

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“But as they all say if we sell our home what will we have for it, money, and what is the use of that money, money goes and after it is gone then where are we, beside we have all we want, what can we do with money except lose it, money to spend is not very welcome, if you have it and you try to spend it, well spending money is an anxiety, saving money is a comfort and a pleasure, economy is not a duty it is a comfort, avarice is an excitement, but spending money is nothing, money spent is money non-existent, money saved is money realised…”

Gertrude Stein book Paris France

Source: Paris France (1940), p. 103

“I think it's good that older leaders have made room for the younger generation. When we started, we worked very hard for very little money. Now we give employees very attractive wages. Other state-owned enterprises should follow our example.”

Liu Chuanzhi (1944) Chinese businessman

Source: The Scientist Who Could http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/97/0613/biz2.html in Asiaweek (2000)

“When you are young and impecunious, society conditions you to exchange time for money, and this is quite as it should be. Very few people are hurt by having to work for a living. But as you become more affluent, it somehow is very, very difficult to reverse that process and begin trading money for time.”

William H. Rehnquist (1924–2005) Chief Justice of the United States

Quoted in Time magazine (13 June 1988).
Books, articles, and speeches

“It may be that when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

“It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth -- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up -- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.”

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926–2004) American psychiatrist

“We know that you have a very arduous duty ahead of you. We hope you enjoy the best of health; if you go on looking as attractive as you do tonight, it will be very beneficial.”

Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett (1923–2014) British politician

Congratulating Margaret Thatcher on becoming leader of the opposition.
Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11205400/Lord-Barnett-obituary.html obituary, 3 Nov 2014

“When we look back on the dangers we have been saved from, and reflect on the success we have been blessed with, it would be sinful either to be idle or to despair.”

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist

The Crisis No. IV.
1770s, The American Crisis (1776–1783)
Context: You have too much at stake to hesitate. You ought not to think an hour upon the matter, but to spring to action at once. Other states have been invaded, have likewise driven off the invaders. Now our time and turn is come, and perhaps the finishing stroke is reserved for us. When we look back on the dangers we have been saved from, and reflect on the success we have been blessed with, it would be sinful either to be idle or to despair.

“When men in relationships have more money, we say they have the power. When women in relationships have more money, we say they are being used.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: Why Men Are the Way They Are (1988), p. 218.

“We’re very lucky. You know, we have lots of things that we are very fortunate to have. You know, we have a house, you know? We have, you know, all these sort of nice things around us. And so, you know, we’re grateful for that because so many people don’t have that. We have, you know, relative stability and stuff like that. And, you know, lots of things that, you know, everyone would, you know, love to have.”

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (1982) a member of the British royal family

Response to the question "What’s the coolest thing about being a prince?" in an interview with Matt Lauer of NBC News, as quoted in FishbowlNY (15 June 2007) http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/whats-the-coolest-thing-about-being-a-prince_b5228

“It may be that when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work
and when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

Standing by Words: Essays (2011), Poetry and Marriage: The Use of Old Forms (1982)
Context: It may be, then, that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work and that when we no longer know which way to go we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.

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Ricardo Semler 10

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