Leisure is not a Sunday afternoon idyll, but the preserve of freedom, of education and culture, and of that undiminished humanity which views the world as a whole.

Leisure in Greek is skole, and in Latin scola, the English "school." The word used to designate the place where we educate and teach is derived from a word which means "leisure." "School" does not, properly speaking, mean school, but leisure. 

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The original conception of leisure, as it arose in the civilized world of Greece, has, however, become unrecognizable in the world of planned diligence and "total labour"; and in order to gain a clear notion of leisure we must begin by setting aside the prejudice, our prejudice-that comes from overvaluing the sphere of work. 

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Leisure is only possible when a man is at one with himself, when he acquiesces in his own being, whereas the essence of acedia is the refusal to acquiesce in one's own being. 

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Leisure, it must be clearly understood, is a mental and spiritual attitude-it is not simply the result of external factors, it is not the inevitable result of spare time, a holiday, a week-end or a vacation. It is, in the first place, an attitude of mind, a condition of the soul.

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Compared with the exclusive ideal of work as activity, leisure implies (in the first place ) an attitude of non-activity, of inward calm, of silence; it means not being "busy," but letting things happen. 

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Leisure is a form of silence, of that silence which is the prerequisite of the apprehension of reality : only the silent hear and those who do not remain silent do not hear. Silence, as it is used in this context, does not mean "dumbness" or "noiselessness"; it means more nearly that the soul's power to "answer" to the reality of the world is left undisturbed.

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For leisure is a receptive attitude of mind, a contemplative attitude, and it is not only the occasion but also the capacity for steeping oneself in the whole of creation. Furthermore, there is also a certain serenity in leisure. That serenity springs precisely from our inability to understand, from our recognition of the mysterious nature of the universe; it springs from the courage of deep confidence, so that we are content to let things take their course.

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Leisure is not the attitude of mind of those who actively intervene, but of those who are open to everything; not of those who grab and grab hold, but of those who leave the reins loose and who are free and easy themselves-almost like a man falling asleep, for one can only fall asleep by "letting oneself go."

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Leisure is possible only on the premise that man consents to his own true nature and abides in concord with the meaning of the universe (whereas idleness, as we have said, is the refusal of such consent) . 

Leisure draws its vitality from affirmation. It is not the same as non-activity, nor is it identical with tranquility.

 - Josef Pieper

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Leisure: The Basis of Culture