Busyness Quotes

“The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization

“Inevitably we find ourselves tackling too many things at the same time, spreading our focus so thin that nothing gets the attention it deserves. This is commonly referred to as "being busy." Being busy, however, is not the same thing as being productive.”
― Ryder Carroll, The Bullet Journal Method: Track Your Past, Order Your Present, Plan Your Future

“Busy hands achieve more than idle tongues.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo

“Some times things just fall off your plate.”
― V.K. Springs

“I wanted to figure out why I was so busy, but I couldn't find the time to do it.”
― Todd Stocker

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!”
― William Wordsworth

“Repose, leisure, peace, belong among the elements of happiness. If we have not escaped from harried rush, from mad pursuit, from unrest, from the necessity of care, we are not happy. And what of contemplation? Its very premise is freedom from the fetters of workaday busyness. Moreover, it itself actualizes this freedom by virtue of being intuition.”
― Josef Pieper, Happiness and Contemplation

“We have become a nation of thoughtless rushers, intent on doing before thinking, and hoping what we do magically works out. If it doesn’t, we rush to do something else, something also not well thought-out, and then hope for more magic.”
― Len Holman

“Busyness chokes deep thinking.”
― Todd Stocker, Refined: Turning Pain into Purpose

“In consequence, when the pleasures have been removed which busy people derive from their actual activities, the mind cannot endure the house, the solitude, the walls, and hates to observe its own isolation. From this arises that boredom and self-dissatisfaction, that turmoil of a restless mind and gloomy and grudging endurance of our leisure, especially when we are ashamed to admit the reasons for it and our sense of shame drives the agony inward, and our desires are trapped in narrow bounds without escape and stifle themselves. From this arise melancholy and mourning and a thousand vacillations of a wavering mind, buoyed up by the birth of hope and sickened by the death of it. From this arises the state of mind of those who loathe their own leisure and complain that they have nothing to do, and the bitterest envy at the promotion of others. For unproductive idleness nurtures malice, and because they themselves could not prosper they want everyone else to be ruined. Then from this dislike of others' success and despair of their own, their minds become enraged against fortune, complain about the times, retreat into obscurity, and brood over their own sufferings until they become sick and tired of themselves.”
― Seneca, On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It

“This philosophy rejects busyness, seeing overload as an obstacle to producing results that matter, not a badge of pride.”
― Cal Newport, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

“Red Brocade"

The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is,
where he’s come from,
where he’s headed.
That way, he’ll have strength
enough to answer.
Or, by then you’ll be
such good friends
you don’t care.

Let’s go back to that.
Rice? Pine nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.

No, I was not busy when you came!
I was not preparing to be busy.
That’s the armor everyone put on
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.

I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint
into your tea.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East

“The only thing unqualifiedly good in this world is a good will - the will to follow the moral law, regardless of profit or loss for ourselves.

Never mind your happiness; do your duty.

"Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness."

Let us seek the happiness in others; but for ourselves, perfection - whether it bring us happiness or pain.”
― Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers

“I’ve learned is that the pursuit of busyness has become our greatest source of unhappiness.”
― Keisha Blair

“I’ve recognized that “busy is a decision” and that presence is more rewarding than productivity or efficiency”
― Keisha Blair

“I’m too busy’ is another way of saying, ‘It’s not a priority.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, Listen to Your Conscience: That's Why You Have One

“The relentless overload that’s wearing us down is generated by a belief that ‘good’ work requires increasing busyness—faster responses to email and chats, more meetings, more tasks, more hours.”
― Cal Newport, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

“My heart is broken, Nell thinks. But in our family we don't say, "My heart is broken." We say, "Are there any cookies?" One must eat. One must keep busy. One must distract oneself. But why? What for? For whom?”
― Margaret Atwood, Old Babes in the Wood: Stories

“#BookedAndBusy has its place, but so does #BlessedAndRested.”
― Lisa Hurley, Space To Exhale: A Handbook for Curating a Soft, Centered, Serene Life

“Busyness is not business, because one can be busy transacting nothing.”
― Utibe Samuel Mbom, Your Clients and You

“You know you’ve lost your simplicity when you’ve found your busy-ness.”
― Sol Luckman, Get Out of Here Alive: Inner Alchemy & Immortality

“Most people are so busy chasing things they don’t have, that they fail to appreciate the things they do.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, Values to Live By: Know What Matters Most and Let It Be Your Guide

“Move the needle—busyness is illusion. effectiveness drives transformation.”
― Farshad Asl

“I couldn't keep up with praying for all these good causes.”
― Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem

“We know that we can always pray more and give more and evangelize more, so we get used to living in a state of mild disappointment with ourselves. That's not how the apostle Paul lived (1 Cor. 4:4), and it's not how God wants us to live either (Rom. 12:1-2).”
― Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem

“I can forget that my circle of influence will inevitably be smaller than my circle of concern.”
― Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem

“I have often marvelled to think that Jesus was so terrifically busy, but only with the things he was supposed to be doing”
― Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem

“If every day is a marathon, the finish line will come faster than expected.”
― Wyatt B Pringle, Jr.

“I was just beginning
to wonder about my own life
and now I have to return to it
regardless of the weather
or how close I am to love.
Doesn’t it bother you sometimes
what living is, what the day has turned into?
So many screens and meetings
and things to be late for.
Everyone truly deserves
a flute of champagne
for having made it this far!
Though it’s such a disaster
to drink on a Monday.”
― Alex Dimitrov

“I have made myself a quiet place in the swirl.
I think you would like it.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East