Letter 82 — On the Natural Fear of Death (§3)

““But,” you say, “is it not better even to lie idle than to whirl round in these eddies of business distraction?” Both extremes are to be deprecated—both tension and sluggishness. I hold that he who lies on a perfumed couch is no less dead than he who is dragged along by the executioner’s hook. Leisure without study is death; it is a tomb for the living man.”