Leisure: The Basis of Culture

In a class I'm taking this semester, we're approaching the study of history by looking at ethics, philosophy, and civilization as a whole, so we're reading various books with different theories; today as I read one of our required books, Leisure: The Basis of Culture, I had what Coach Bob Neal would call a "Peak experience."

Josef Pieper, a German philosopher, "destroys common misconceptions about the idea of leisure and its relation to work.  Leisure is not ideleness, but an attitude of the mind and a condition of the soul that fosters receptivity to both physical and spiritual realities.  The author points out that sound philosophy and authentic religion can be born only in leisure--a leisure that allows time for the contemplation of things, including the nature of God...Pieper warns that unless we recover true leisure--the ability for silence, contemplation and insight; for receptivity and intuitive openness to truth--and replace our frenetic amusments and relentless striving, we will destroy our culture and ourselves" (quote taken from the back of the book).  

Josef Pieper

The book is a quick read and it's full of important ideas like: "[Man] should not be wholly absorbed in the clear-cut milieu of his strictly limited function...he should retain the faculty of grasping the world as a whole and realizing his full potentialities as an entity meant to reach Wholeness" (p. 50).  

And, as Aristotle said, "A man will live thus, not to the extent that he is a man, but to the extent that a divine principle dwells within him" (p. 51).  

Oh, I do love a good book that changes my life paradigm!! You can order it here.