Wednesday, February 2, 2011

True Leisure and Its Joys

This ink drawing, a translation of the painting, is from a 1930s volume of A Picturesque Tale of Progress.

I've directly quoted the image's caption below, tremendous words of wisdom that we all should take very seriously.

Cultured Chinese Enjoying the Beauties of Winter
(based on a painting at Kyoto)

The proper use of leisure is something that the Western World has never understood. Even in his hours of freedom, the European and American is essentially materialistic, rushing madly from business to social event and strenuous physical activity, then back again, ever tense, ever hurried, ever moving. He knows little of the Easterner's delight in true leisure and its joys—peace, tranquility, vision, serenity, insight, repose and deep feelings richly savored.
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2 comments:

  1. LC DouglassFebruary 2, 2011 at 7:58 PM

    After a whole day of watching Egyptian protests, visiting your blog and finding this soothing image was even more welcome than usual.

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  2. Thomas Haller BuchananFebruary 2, 2011 at 8:14 PM

    ToB, I was actually thinking of you when I posted this quote. The Easterner's delight is more and more the life that I live. If more people lived as such, it could be the antidote for the world's headlong rush into madness.

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