- English translation
When there's no work to be had, the only thing those idle days are good for is sleep.
- Literal wording
The benefit of the days of idleness is sleep.
- Meaning and lesson
When a person is idle or has no work to fill the days, whether from a lull or plain inactivity rather than only formal unemployment, wakefulness brings nothing in return. Sleep becomes the one profitable use of that empty time, and resting the body is a modest gain salvaged from days otherwise wasted.
The saying can be heard as sensible advice to accept a lull and recover strength, or as a dry, resigned remark that idleness yields nothing better than slumber; the surrounding context decides which. In either reading, its point is that rest is all that empty time has to give.
- When it is used
Say it when work has dried up or a stretch of days offers nothing productive, to justify resting instead of fretting. It can also gently tease someone who sleeps late during a lull, implying that rest is the only gain to be had then.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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