Article image

12 Thought-Provoking Quotes About Boredom

Haven’t we all experienced the pangs of boredom at some point in our lives? Boredom is a state that threatens to haunt us at any age, whether as a child, waiting for a parent to finish a long conversation about grown-up things, or as an adult, trying to find excitement and meaning in the daily grind.

A relative of ennui, boredom can feel stifling, overwhelming, and endless until it’s interrupted — often by an external force. But while some attribute boredom to a dull or tedious set of circumstances, others see it more as a state of mind. Take, for instance, writer G.K. Chesterton, who once said, "There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people." In other words, boredom may be in the eye of the beholder, and can be avoided by shifting our attitude and perspective.

Albert Einstein, often hailed as one of the true geniuses of modern times, actually reveled in boredom as a foundational ingredient for creativity. “Creativity is the residue of time wasted,” he once said, explaining that feeling the need to occupy one’s time often gives way to new and great ideas. Whichever end of the spectrum you land on — embracing or dreading boredom — the 12 quotes below offer up new ways to view our moments of dull and glorious stillness.

To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring — it was peace.
Milan Kundera, Czech writer

Share Quote

You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.
Andy Warhol

Share Quote

If we allow our “high creativity” to remain alive, we will never be bored… we can be lost in awe at all the people around us, their lives full of glory and tragedy, and suddenly we will have the beginnings of a painting, a story, a song.
Madeleine L’Engle

Share Quote

Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination: Both depend on being outside rather than inside a situation, and one leads to the other.
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

Share Quote

In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.
Richard Bach

Share Quote

She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring.
Zelda Fitzgerald

Share Quote

The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.
Albert Camus

Share Quote

Boredom is the fear of self.
Marie Josephine de Suin, French author

Share Quote

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.
Ellen Parr, graphic designer

Share Quote

Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful or to discover something that is true.
William Ralph Inge, author

Share Quote

They sicken of the calm who knew the storm.
Dorothy Parker

Share Quote

I wanted change and excitement and to shoot off in all directions myself, like the colored arrows from a Fourth of July rocket.
Sylvia Plath

Share Quote

Photo credit: Ariya J/ Shutterstock

Author image
About the Author
Joyce Chen
Joyce Chen is a writer, editor, and community builder based in Seattle, Washington.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Who said, "Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life"?

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's.

separator icon
Fyodor Dostoevsky
motivation theme icon

You live out the confusions until they become clear.

separator icon
Anaïs Nin
hope theme icon

Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.

separator icon
William Arthur Ward
love theme icon

The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.

separator icon
Sheryl Sandberg
wisdom theme icon

If you wake up and the day feels broken, just lean into the crack.

separator icon
Björk
happiness theme icon

Endure, and keep yourselves for days of happiness.

separator icon
Virgil
motivation theme icon

Live for each second without hesitation.

separator icon
Elton John
hope theme icon

I am all the things I have ever loved.

separator icon
Toni Morrison
love theme icon

The gratification comes in the doing, not in the results.

separator icon
James Dean
wisdom theme icon

Open to whatever you experience without fighting. Let it be present just as it is. Let go of the battle.

separator icon
Jack Kornfield
happiness theme icon

One shouldn't just hope to be treated well: one must insist on it.

separator icon
Abraham Verghese