Idle Hands means that you’re not actively doing something and therefore you might be doing something that is bad.
We’ve all heard the saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”
It serves as a warning that when we have too much free time, we may quickly get bored, unproductive, and even get into trouble.
But keeping active may be difficult, particularly when we are uninspired or stressed.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of motivational quotes to urge you to keep your hands and mind busy.
Idle Hands Quotes
Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and governments. ~ Benjamin Franklin.
Idle hands make fretful minds. ~ Shelley Shepard Gray.
It’s not only idle hands that do the Devil’s work. ~ A.D. Aliwat.
For Satan always finds some mischief still for idle hands to do. ~ Isaac Watts.
You should not have idle hands, you should always be working. All your life. ~ Ivan Bunin.
Idle hands are the devil’s playthings. ~ Benjamin Franklin.
An idler is a watch that wants both hands; As useless if it goes as when it stands. ~ William Cowper.
The devil finds work for idle hands to do. Better to reign in the hell than serve in heaven. We are in bondage to the law in order that we may be free. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero.
The devil finds work for idle hands. ~ Henry David Thoreau.
Jewels, lies, slips of paper, dried flowers, memories of thing long past, useless quotations, idle hands, beads, buttons, and mischief. ~ Holly Black.
Therefore with idle hands and head I sit
In late December before the fire’s daze
Punished by crimes of which I would be quit. ~ Allen Tate.
Also Read: 71 Boredom Quotes To Confirm Your Idleness and Laziness and 67 Feeling Empty Quotes to Cope Loneliness
Quotes about Idle Hands
I can’t stand still; I find it very difficult to sit around and do nothing. I’ve got to have projects on the go because the devil makes work for idle hands. I’ve got to be going forward all the time. ~ Irvine Welsh.
In works of labor or of skilI would be busy too: For Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do. ~ Isaac Watts.
Success has no idle hands; affords no legs at rest. ~ Johnnie Dent Jr.
It is not true that Satan makes work for idle hands to do; that is just what he doesn’t. Satan should be at hand with all manner of glittering distractions, false but irresistible promises, inducements to reprehensible behavior. Instead of which one is simply offered a choice between overwork and half-hearted idleness. ~ Anita Brookner.
I have ideas every day, and if I’m not carrying a pad of paper, I’m typing it into the notes thing on my iPhone, and it’s just ridiculous – idle hands are the devil’s plaything, and I can’t be the devil’s plaything. I got to be the devil; I got to be the guy making it all happen. ~ Corey Taylor.
Tremendous Idle Hands Quotes
You can bet the rent money that whatever politicians do will end up harming consumers. … Economic ignorance is to politicians what idle hands are to the devil. Both provide the workshop for the creation of evil. ~ Walter E. Williams.
Although it has been said that idle hands are the devil’s workshop, when it comes to teenagers, both idle and active hands are the devil’s workshop. ~ Amy Sedaris.
That the Devil finds work for idle hands to do is probably true. But there is a profound difference between leisure and idleness. ~ Henry Ford.
Old Flossie settle down on the other side of What-the-Dickens and dragged some handiwork out of a sack. She armed herself with two thorns shaped into knitting needles. A wodge of curlicued metallic scrubbing pad supplied the threat. ‘I knit handcuffs as a hobby,’ explained Old Flossie happily, and set to work. ‘Idle hands get up to no good, so I like to be prepared in case I meet up with any idle hands. ~ Gregory Maguire.
Best Idle Hands Quotes
There are moments in life when a man retreats defensively, when he must give ground, when he must surrender less important positions in order to protect the more important ones. But should it come to the very last, the most important one, at this point a man must halt and stand firm if he doesn’t want to begin life all over again with idle hands and a feeling of being shipwrecked. ~ Milan Kundera.
The people who are unemployed want to do the work, but the system is such a catastrophic failure that it cannot bring together idle hands and work. This is all hailed as a great success, and it is a great success – for a very small sector of the population. ~ Noam Chomsky.
So these were the 23 quotes about Idle Hands.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other popular blog posts on the topics of Mean People quotes and Women Entrepreneurs quotes and Equality of Education quotes.
References and Sources: