Thoughts on Leisure by G. K. Chesterton
"Chesterton argues that leisure is about "free time", "time which one can spend as one pleases." The root of the word leisure comes from the Latin licere, which means "to be permitted," suggesting that leisure is about unstructured, free-choice time...the opportunity to do other than that which is necessary or required. To do as one pleases. To be freed from the mundane. To be free to pursue the unusual, the inexplicable, the irrelevant, the interesting, and the idiosyncratic."
from The Importance of Being Lazy by Al Gini (2005)
How happy flowers are...
Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are. ~ Osho
Life....
One day a student decided that he was tired of learning only from books. He made up his mind to go out into the world and find the meaning of life on his own. During his travels, he met someone who told him to visit a wise man in the mountains of Tibet.
After many days he found the honoured guru, whereupon he fell to his knees and, bowing before him, asked with great humility. "O great teacher, what is life?"
"Life," smiled the elderly man, "is the fragrance of jasmine after a spring rain."
The young man frowned and looked puzzled. "But Honourable One, another wise man I met in Peru told me life was a painful thorn like a needle of tempered steel."
Nodding, the guru observed serenely, "That...is his life."
