proverb · Words worth keeping
When pleasure interferes with business, give up business.
When pleasure interferes with business, give up business.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Giving up business when it interferes with pleasure reverses the usual expectation that work should take priority. The saying makes enjoyment the preferred value.
What the words are saying
The reversal is humorous or provocative rather than a complete guide to livelihood. A responsible interpretation can question overwork without recommending abandonment of necessary obligations or promising that leisure solves a problem. Actual needs, support and consequences matter in choosing a balance.
Everyday example
A reader questions an excessive work demand while still considering practical responsibilities and resources.
When to use it
Use it to explain the reversed priority without a blanket instruction to quit work.
What it does not mean
No universal livelihood decision or guaranteed wellbeing through leisure is established.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
United States
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.- Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 106; PDF page 17; collection label: United States
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- United States