The art of laziness

Artists have always needed some laziness; part of that is due to their need to understand the experiences they have recently acquired and embody, and to give the subconscious ideas a chance to mature, while another part is due to dedicating themselves consciously to the idea of returning to childhood again, to be friends and siblings of the earth, plants, rocks, and clouds. Whether you are painting pictures or composing poems, or writing literature or poetry solely for artistic pleasure, there must be periods of rest that are indispensable for any artist. From the heart of the periods of (creative) silence, arise the times of forced inactivity, which have always been met with disdain or pity by the “Panosian” spirits, the narrow-minded. Even the artist himself is always surprised and deceived by these periods of silence, falling prey to frustration and self-torment, and continues like this until he learns how to submit to the voice of his innate internal laws, and until the idea that abundance paralyzes creativity as much as exhaustion consoles him. Author: Herman Hesse Translation: Ahmed Al-Zanati Number of pages: 142 To request more of Herman Hesse’s works: Siddhartha You Are the Answer to the Question - Selected Letters to Youth The Lazy Man’s Book Journey to the East Klein and Wagner Correspondence between Herman Hesse and Thomas Mann