In Praise of Idleness: A Timeless Essay by Russell Bertrand

Author:Russell, Bertrand [Russell, Bertrand]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Philosophy, Politics, Sociology, Classics, Self Help, Psychology
ISBN: 9781925203684
Amazon: B013JMX6SI
Goodreads: 27869721
Publisher: Nero
Published: 1935-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

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“A generation that cannot endure boredom will be a generation of little men, of men unduly divorced from the slow processes of nature, of men in whom every vital impulse slowly withers, as though they were cut f lowers in a vase.”

The Conquest of Happiness [1930]

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The most enduring piece of advice proffered by Lady Fanny, indeed one that stayed with Russell throughout his life, was a scriptural quote penned onto the fly-leaf of a King James Bible she gifted him as a child – it read, “Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil”.73 These nine words empowered Russell to never feel amiss when standing apart from majority opinion, and can be felt in almost every aspect of his written work and public life.

When he arrived at Cambridge Russell suddenly burst into full bloom. Here, blessed with a splendid moustache and free from his grandmother’s musty skirts, he could stretch his cerebral legs and run like a joyous colt in an endless field of wild ideas. In this safe, stimulating and encouraging environment he was able to deploy his original thinking to full effect, resulting in immediate academic success, achieving scholastic distinction in both mathematics and philosophy.

But it wasn’t until after he graduated and was a Cambridge lecturer himself that he found the balanced approach that resulted in a creative discipline that suited him best, and helped him become one of the most prolific and important writers of all time.

It’s now hard to imagine Russell ever encountering writer’s block, especially considering he averaged some three thousand handwritten words per day throughout his life,74 even while travelling, convalescing or in prison.75 But nevertheless, there were occasions when, as a young man, Russell felt like he had reached a creative impasse. At such times inspiration would not yield, even to Russell’s formidable intellect and resolute determination.

Initially, when trying to make a breakthrough in his work, Russell would hunker down at his desk and grind it out – doing almost nothing but studying, thinking and writing with increasing desperation. This came to a head at the end of 1913 when he was trying to prepare the series of Lowell Lectures he was to publish as a book and subsequently deliver to a packed house at MIT in Boston in the New Year, and he described his climacteric state as follows: “I concentrated with such intensity that I sometimes forgot to breathe and emerged panting as from a trance.”76

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