“Idleness is sweet, and its consequences are cruel.”
La molesse est doce, et sa suite est cruelle.
Attributed as a diary entry, as quoted in Respectfully Quoted : A Dictionary of Quotations (1992) by Suzy Platt
Original
La molesse est doce, et sa suite est cruelle.
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John Quincy Adams 52
American politician, 6th president of the United States (in… 1767–1848Related quotes

“Folly is often more cruel in the consequence, than malice can be in the intent.”
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Moral Thoughts and Reflections

[Pragmatism, William James, Lecture Three: Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically Considered, 80-81, Meridian Books, New York, 1955]https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.114743/2015.114743.Pragmatism-And-Four-Essays-From-The-Meaning-Of-Truth_djvu.txt}}
1900s
"Wilt thou unkind thus reave me of my heart", line 25, The First Book of Songs (1597).

Sonnet, The Day is gone; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

“Sweetness of life depends to its bitterness.”
Quoted in Humor & Caricature (September 1995), p. 3