So many of us have a foolishly complicated relationship with rest. Somehow our minds have learned to attach guilt to rest, as if it was a weakness and not a sensible thing. Today, let’s unlearn this unhealthy thinking with quotes about rest.
I know what it is to be burned out all too well. I have had burnout and then another over it and then once more, so that my body completely gave up and I couldn’t go on any more. I was diagnosed with clinical burnout and it was extreme, to put it lightly.
I never voluntarily chose to do the things that led to it but I had to. Having to be a breadwinner at a young age is unpleasant and then to work with someone who strives for the opposite of balance made my life everything I wanted it not to be.
So, I quit. I took a full month’s rest and slowly got back to doing what I liked to. I had to battle the cruel thoughts that made me question my worth, and choose to rest because I really needed it.
Why is it such a worry for us? Why do we feel guilty when our body tells us to take a break? What are we striving to be? In the end, we’re just human beings.
I learn a lot from a dog, Alex. Animals are so connected to themselves and nature. Alex rests when he wanted to and no matter how much any other dog invites him to, he won’t play unless he feels like it. He’s secure in himself.
We don’t have to prove how strong we are to anyone. We shouldn’t be scared of being seen as lazy by people who have forgotten that they are living beings, not machines. How can humans forget their humanness… It’s so strange…
So, let’s let go of this belief and embrace rest in our lives. Work is beautiful and meaningful and so is rest. They go hand in hand. Treat your body with love and respect and life will be so much better because of it.
Quotes About Rest
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
― John Lubbock
“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.”
― Alan Cohen
“Rest is the bridge that connects exhaustion and fatigue to renewed strength and restoration. Cross it more often and feel the transformation within.”
― Dr. Lucas D. Shallua
“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”
― Maya Angelou
“Rest, relaxation, and simply enjoying life will help your creativity blossom. You will find more inspiration once you allow yourself to actually live in the present moment and not force anything.”
― Robin S. Baker
“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.”
― Kenneth Grahame
“Everywhere I have sought peace and not found it, except in a corner with a book.”
― Thomas a Kempis
“As important as it is to have a plan for doing work, it is perhaps more important to have a plan for rest, relaxation, self-care, and sleep.”
― Akiroq Brost
“If you have a setback, you rest. Then one day, probably sooner than you think, you wake up, ready to try again.”
― Amita Parikh
“6 Ways To Give Your Mind A Break:
1. Stop stressing
2. Stop worrying
3. Give rest to the problems weighing you down
4. Lighten up
5. Forgive yourself
6. Forgive others”
― Germany Kent
“Rest is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Take the time off to replenish your energy and recharge your soul. In the midst of life’s chaos, find solace in the stillness of rest that is where true rejuvenation resides.”
― Dr. Lucas D. Shallua
“When you start feeling an overwhelming amount of energy pile up on you, that is indicating that you need to put your devices down, relax, and detox. Take a step back for a second and get back to a grounded space.”
― Robin S. Baker
“The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of room, not try to be or do anything whatever.”
― May Sarton
“Taking breaks isn’t about cheating yourself, it’s about treating yourself.”
― Curtis Tyrone Jones
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
― Anne Lamott
“Don’t you simply love going to bed. To curl up warmly in a nice warm bed, in the lovely darkness. That is so restful and then gradually drift away into sleep…”
― C.S. Lewis
“Rest and be thankful.”
― William Wordsworth
“Activity and rest are two vital aspects of life. To find a balance in them is a skill in itself. Wisdom is knowing when to have rest, when to have activity, and how much of each to have. Finding them in each other – activity in rest and rest in activity – is the ultimate freedom.”
― Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
“I love the magic of a hot bath, how time pauses and every grievance melts away.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich
“Rest is good, you feel refreshed.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita
“Sometimes taking a moment to do ‘nothing’ is the best ‘something’ that we can do.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
“Life isn’t as serious as the mind makes it out to be.”
― Eckhart Tolle
“We needed to get rid of the belief that we couldn’t rest until our work was done. Work is never done.”
― Sonia Choquette
“Love turns work into rest.”
― Teresa of Avila
“Ultimately, rest is an act of resistance against the siren calls of our idols to work for them. By stopping, we take up arms against the great Western gods of achievement, money, and self-determination.”
― Adam Mabry
“my dear,
we are all made of water.
it’s okay to rage. sometimes
it’s okay to rest. to recede.”
― Sanober Khan
“Just because you take breaks doesn’t mean you’re broken.”
― Curtis Tyrone Jones
“A change is as good as a rest.”
― Stephen King
“A little bit of rest can go a long way.”
― A.D. Aliwat
“When sleep puts an end to delirium, it is a good symptom.”
― Hippocrates
“Take a deep breath. Inhale peace. Exhale happiness.”
― A.D. Posey
“It’s in the rest where you see your struggles. It’s in the moment of reckoning where a change can be a choice. A choice to return to the values that mirror your highest self. The return to you — when you make the powerful choice not to quit, but to rest.”
― Hania Khuri-Trapper
“Relax, Recharge and Reflect. Sometimes it’s OK to do nothing.”
― Izey Victoria Odiase
“Your mind is like water. When it is agitated it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear.”
― Bill Keane
“I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. A day when one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged, damaging day, a sinful day. Not so! The most valuable thing one can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room.”
― May Sarton
“A day of rest yields a hundred days of progress.”
― Adrienne Posey
“Every now and then, go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer.”
― Leonardo da Vinci
“Most of the things we need to be most fully alive never come in busyness. They grow in rest.”
― Mark Buchanan
“Everything needs a break.”
― Toba Beta
Relaxation Quotes
“All of us are busy but how about doing nothing for a while and listening to everything that has been longing to speak to us.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya
“Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.”
― Eckhart Tolle
“Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.”
― John Lennon
“I hate burnout, but we have to listen to our body when it is pleading for us to relax more. We’re so trained to constantly be on the hamster wheel. Take a break, rest, and do something enjoyable for yourself. You’re still on track.”
― Robin S. Baker
“Time spent in rest is an investment in your well-being. Embrace it, cherish it, and let it restore your vitality. A moment of rest is not a waste of time; it is an essential part of the journey towards productivity, efficiency and success.”
― Dr. Lucas D. Shallua
“Being tired is pleasant when you think what has tired you was worth the portion of your life.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“Look at all three levels: relaxing, resting and sleeping, and keep a diary for one week to check on how much time you are allowing for each on a daily basis.”
― Ben Bergeron
“There is no wisdom without leisure.”
― W. B. Yeats
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.”
― Lin Yutang
“Don’t confuse the need to rest with the desire to give up.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
“Just rest until you feel like you’re ready.”
― Ben Bergeron
“There is no renewal without rest.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita
“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”
― William S. Burroughs
“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.”
― Jane Austen
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
– Marthe Troly-Curtin
“Sleep is so vital that we do not have to earn it.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges. So relax.”
― Bryant McGill
“Without good sleep we’re not able to operate at our best, and yet, when it comes right down to it, we typically do a lot more to stay awake than we do to get the sleep we need.”
― Thatcher Wine
“To rest was to receive all aspects of the world without judgment. A bath in the sea, a fuck with a soldier who never knew your name. Tenderness toward the unknown and anonymous, which was tenderness to the self.”
― Michael Ondaatje
“Just breathing can be such a luxury sometimes.”
― Walter Kirn
“Even very good activities can become very exhausting activities when we do them to convince ourselves and others that we are worthy of being loved.”
― April Fiet
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
― Lao Tzu
“If you want to travel in this universe for a long time, you should stop and rest on the way from time to time and reward yourself!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan
“Autumn had lulled the garden to sleep. And its stilled slumber rested in the fact that the garden possessed no concern regarding the demands of the spring ahead as it drew peace from the harvest born of the summer past.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
“You can try to organize your experience but you can not actually control time itself. Try to enjoy moments of rest when they come. The waiting is part of it.”
― Adam J. Kurtz
“Take rest; A field that has rested, gives bountiful crop.”
― Ovid
“Less can be more. Sometimes the highest form of action is inaction. Athletes require rest and recovery time.”
― Gary Mack
“Proud of the work I’ve done and savoring the hours of rest I’ve earned.”
― Ronda Rousey
“One of the minimalist home values… was rest. Another minimalist home value is seemingly the opposite: work. But not frantic work. Peaceful, purposeful work. Efficient, effective work.”
― Joshua Becker
“Pause-itivity: The power of the pause”
― Eleanor Brownn
“Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.”
― Rumi
“Relax. No one else knows what they’re doing either.”
― Ricky Gervais
“You are safe here.
You are home now.
You can rest.”
― Jeanette LeBlanc
“Taking time to do nothing often brings everything into perspective.”
― Doe Zantamata
“Meditation is the most fruitful form of rest during which we are awake.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“You can find magic, wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.”
― Dr. Seuss
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