Idleness allows you to turn a situation from boredom to pleasure.

When stuck years ago in a job I hated, my only friend was the public bench. As the tedious mornings dragged on, how I would long for the lunch hour, when I would be able to escape the torture of the office and stroll over to the churchyard and into the comforting wooden embrace of one of its benches.

In both word and deed, one of the greatest idlers of all time was John Lennon. In his songs we see repeated defences of simply lying around doing nothing.

The accusation 'unprofessional' means 'You did not behave like a machine today.

We have become so obsessed by numbers and by bottom lines that beauty and truth has been knocked aside.

Often, the things that a lot of work has gone into have been incredibly bad because they're over-worked.

Working is bad enough in the winter, but in the summer it can become completely intolerable. Stuck in airless offices, every fibre of our being seems to cry out for freedom. We're reminded of being stuck in double maths while the birds sing outside.