From Mr G. Silberman, 19 November 2010, by email. Sir: It has been an exceptional year. perhaps the best ever. It has also become obvious that I am not alone in celebrating these terrible economic times. Why? Because as a chronic underachiever, this is a perhaps the greatest time in history to live guilt free. [...]
Read Just Bumbling | 1 CommentFrom Ms. Alexandra Lynch, Massachusetts. November 2010. Sir: I love pencils. I love the wood casing, the lightness of them, the sense that many hands over many centuries—eons?—have held pencils much like mine in their hands to record thoughts, hopes, even history. And still, each one becomes microscopically unique with use—the way my sharpener grinds [...]
Read In Praise of the Pencil | 4 CommentsFrom Mr Clinton Morgan, May 2010. Dear Sir, Because I was successful at giving up my vice of drinking copious amounts of milk for Lent, I took it upon myself to give up idleness this year. Until Easter I would throw myself into doing stuff, whatever it was. I only stopped for lunch and finished [...]
Read A Dreadful Mistake | No CommentsFrom Mr Jonathan Penny, July 2010 Dear Idler I am writing to tell you about my experiences in the modern workplace during a sustained period of employment spanning from the early nineties up until earlier this year. During this time I worked as an Architectural Draughtsman which involved working alongside architects and engineers, and producing [...]
Read Why I Quit the Day Job | 14 CommentsFrom Mr Horvath. January 2010 Dear Mr Hodgkinson, I recently finished The Freedom Manifesto [the US version of How To Be Free], and, as an example of its impact on me, I have thus far purchased three additional copies to hand out to friends. I’m not quite sure if the book taught me something new [...]
Read Only Connect | No CommentsFrom Ms Barbara Kelly, August 2009 Dear Mr Hodgkinson, I’ve just read your article online in the Daily Telegraph concerning proposed changes to the home ed scene in the U.K. I agree that governments have extreme difficulty handling any grab for freedom by the common man. Last year, my son, Lachlan and I embarked on [...]
Read Grab for Freedom | No CommentsThe Idler is an annual, book-shaped magazine that campaigns against the work ethic. It was founded in 1993 by Tom Hodgkinson and his friend Gavin Pretor-Pinney. The intention of the magazine is to return dignity to the art of loafing, to make idling into something to aspire towards rather than reject. As well as providing a radical and thought-provoking read, the Idler is also very funny. MORE …
"Pleasure is the beginning and the goal of a happy life. The beginning and root of every good is the pleasure of the stomach. Even wisdom and culture must be referred to this." Idle Idols: Epicurus
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