Aristotle’s Noble Leisure
“All of life can be divided into work and leisure, and war and peace; and of actions, some aim at what is necessary and useful, while others aim at what is noble…
Just as war is for the sake of peace, so work is for the sake of leisure and what is necessary and useful is for the sake of what is noble…
One should be able to work and go to war, but should rather prefer to remain at peace and be at leisure, and accordingly, one should act with a view to what is necessary and useful, but, more so, with a view to what is noble…
Nature itself aims not only at the correct use of work but also at the capacity for noble leisured activity. Since such activity equates to flourishing, it is the starting point for everything else…”
– Aristotle, Politics (1333a30-b3)