The first passion may be but the enthusiasm of discovery. It is not that relaxing is bad. Everyone requires time to unwind, to read exciting novels, to sit on the couch starting in the wind, to look up at the blue sky and build castles in the clouds, or watch a TV program. As with other ingredients of life, what matters most is the dosage. Passive leisure becomes a problem when a person uses it as the principal—or the only—strategy to fill up free time. Time is the only thing that cannot be spared. No mind is much employed upon the present; recollection and anticipation fill up all our moments. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 8

As patterns turn into habits, they begin to have definite effects on the quality of life as a whole. Those who learn to rely to gambling to pass the time, for instance, may find themselves caught in a habit that interferes with their job, their family, and eventually with their own well-being. People who view television more often than the average tend also to have worse jobs and worse relationships. In large-scale study in Germany, it would found that the more often people report reading books, the more flow experiences they claim to have, while the opposite trend was found for watching television. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 8

The most flow was reported by individuals who read a lot and watched little TV, least by those who read seldom and watched often. Of course, such correlations do not necessarily mean that habits of passive leisure cause bad jobs, bad relationships, and so on.  It is likely that the causal links start from the other end: lonely people with dissatisfying jobs will fill their free time with passive leisure. Or those who cannot find flow otherwise in their lives turn to undemanding leisure activities. Time subdues all things. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 8

However, in human development causation is usually circular: what was an effect in the beginning eventually turns into a cause. Men have set their mark on mankind forever, as they thought, but time has washed it out as it has washed out mountains and continents. A professional parent might force his child to adopt reading and writing as an offense towards repressed aggression; as the child grows up, it is this style of offense rather than the initial trauma that might make it easy for him to become a reasonable individual. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 8

Time heightened their blessings, and their years were like the rising Sun, which gathers fresh splendor, as it gradually illuminates the sky. So adopting habits of passive leisure is not just as effect of previous problems, but becomes a cause in its own right, which cuts off further options for improving the quality of life. And that is why parents want their kids to read and play out doors, so they can be healthy and active and learn new things. No one was their child to sit inside glued to a TV or computer all day, as it is not healthy for the mind, nor the body. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 8

The phrase “bread and circuses” has become a common place to describe how the Roman Empire managed to keep the populace contented during the long centuries of its decline. By providing enough food to keep the bodies satisfied, and enough spectacles to keep the mind entertained, the ruling classes were able to avoid social unrest. It is unlikely that this policy was consciously adopted, but its widespread application seems to have worked. It would not have been either the first or the last time that providing leisure opportunities kept a community from unraveling. #RyanPhillippe 6 of 8

In the Persian Wars, the first historian of the West, the Greek Herodotus, describes how Atys, king of Lydia in Asia Minor, introduced ball games some three thousand years ago as a way to distract his subjects when a series of bad crops caused unrest in the hungry population. The plan adopted against the famine was to engage in games one day so entirely as not to feel any craving for food, and the next day to eat and abstain from games. In this way they passed eighteen years. #RyanPhillippe 7 of 8

Throughout history, when life is not going so well, not only the government, but also private industries do things to keep people happy and distract them from the doom and gloom of life so everyone will remain happy and not attack key figures. For instance, in Oakland, California, America, in 1927, after the Great Depression a number of large estates were built by Robert C. Hillen. They were called modest mansions, and they looked like mini castles. The idea was to give the public and buyer something beautiful to look at to distract them from the hardships caused by the depression. #RyanPhillippe 8 of 8