proverb · Source-linked selection
The sluggard's guise, Loth to go to bed and loth to rise.
The sluggard's guise, Loth to go to bed and loth to rise.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying pictures a reluctant person resisting both bedtime and getting up. Opposite transitions are delayed, so the pattern concerns unwillingness to move into the next activity.
What the words are saying
Loth repeats the same resistance at either end of rest. A useful application asks whether postponing a transition is making the following task harder. It should not label every difficulty with sleeping or waking as laziness. The actual reasons may differ, and the proverb supplies a caricature rather than an assessment of someone’s health or character.
Everyday example
Someone notices that delaying an agreed start repeatedly disrupts a shared task and discusses a workable routine.
When to use it
Use it to examine a known pattern of postponing transitions.
Put a useful idea into practice: try the free seven-day guide ↗
What it does not mean
The label is not a diagnosis, and difficulties with rest do not establish laziness.
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
- Not established
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
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1456 · Sluggard's guise
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English