All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
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All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy is a proverb. Its meaning is that without time off from work, a person becomes bored and boring.
The sentiment expressed by this proverb was first recorded thousands of years ago by the Egyptian sage Ptahhotep, who wrote in 2400 B.C.,
One that reckons accounts all the day passes not a happy moment. One that gladdens his heart all the day provides not for his house. The bowman hits the mark, as the steersman reaches land, by diversity of aim. He that obeys his heart shall command.[1][unreliable source?]
The more familiar modern saying appeared first in James Howell's Proverbs in English, Italian, French and Spanish (1659) [2], and was included in later collections of proverbs.
Some writers have added a second part to the proverb, as in Harry and Lucy Concluded (1825) by the Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth:
- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,
All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.
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[edit] In popular culture
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (August 2008) |
In the movie Charlie Chan at the Olympics from 1937 Chan explains for his son, in his typical proverb fashion, that "All work and no play make Charlie Chan very dull policeman."
The movie The Bridge on the River Kwai a 1957 Academy Award Best Picture film makes use of this phrase as the Japanese Commander tries to blackmail the English Officers into building the bridge at the schedule due date.
The line, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", is also quoted by the narrator's uncle in Araby, a story by James Joyce that appears in his short story collection "Dubliners", published in 1914.
The line is also used by the character Alexander Hamilton McCone in the Kurt Vonnegut's 1979 novel Jailbird
The movie The Shining most famously makes use of this phrase. There, Jack Torrance's wife looks over his typewriter to see what he has written, and finds the phrase repeated over and over on hundreds of sheets of paper in various layouts. This marks Jack's descent into insanity.
In "Now You Smurf' Em, Now You Don't", episode 81 of Hanna-Barbera's TV adaption of The Smurfs, Papa Smurf says "All work and no play makes Papa a dull Smurf" after chastising the other Smurfs for playing and then engaging in some fun himself.
The cynical version is "All work and no play makes jack. And plenty of it." "Jack" here is used as a slang term for money.
It is referred to in the song Angry Chair by rock band Alice In Chains: "i'm a dull boy,work all day".
The song Let Your Hair Down by the Motown band The Temptations include the phrase in its lyrics.
In the book Encyclopedia Horrifica Joshua Gee uses it in part of the endpages of the book as "All work and no play make Drac a dull boy."
[edit] References to The Shining
The following are arguably all direct references to The Shining, rather than used in its traditional context.
The phrase appears as a list of writing that flashes across the screen in a 1997 episode of The Simpsons entitled "The Springfield Files" when Homer Simpson believes that he has encountered an alien. The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror V" also contained a parody of the phrase when Marge discovers Homer wrote "Feelin' fine" on a typewriter only to see "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy" written all over the walls.
In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Gone", a recently invisible Buffy Summers decides to haunt a social worker threatening to take away her sister by filling her report with pages consisting entirely of repetitions of "All work and no play makes Doris a dull girl".
In the Sam and Max: Freelance Police!!! (TV series) episode "The Trouble with Gary" there is a reference to this proverb on Gary`s blackboard: All work and no play makes Gary a bad boy.
In the video game "Command & Conquer: Renegade", in the last mission, there is an announcement in the Temple of Nod that says "All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy."
In the Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater episode of Family Guy, season 2, Stewie says, when meeting the ghostly Grady twins: "Yes, all work and no play makes Stewie a dull boy" and then proceeds to shoot them with a rocket launcher.
The first Mudvayne's single Dull Boy of the By the People, For the People album starts with words: "All work and no play makes me a dull boy".
In the book Encyclopedia Horrifica, Investigator Joshua Gee writes down the phrase in his notes, as well as the variation "All work and no play makes Drac a dull boy."
In the SBCG4AP episode 8-Bit is Enough, when Strong Bad's Gel-Arshie game crashes, the text "ALL WORK AND NO FRUIT MAKES GEL-ARSHIE A DULL BOY" fills the screen.
In the CGI animated show "Urban Vermin" Coco says this to No-Neck in one episode.
Artist Phil Buehler "publishes" Jack Torrance's novel on Blurb.com, made up of nothing but the words "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"
Also in the movie "all quiet on the Western Front" (1989) does the teacher use this proverb when Paul Baumer is summoned to the 'call of duty to the fatherland' but first to go drink with his fellow classmates.
University of Oregon Economics professor Bill Harbaugh published an academic paper in 2003 titled "Economics of Work and Play" which solely repeats line "All Work and No Play makes Bill a dull boy." UO Economics professor Glen Waddell responds to Professor Harbaugh's paper here.
The screensaver "Jack" in the package XScreenSaver, often distributed X11 under Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems, consists of the phrase typed on screen in similar patterns to the film.
In the "Cafe Disco" episode of The Office, Dwight says to Michael, "All work and no play makes Michael a dull boy."
"All play and no work makes for no Jack." -- from the land of beach dwelling in 2009 during the height of the economic crisis.
The song "Dull Boy," by Mudvayne, displays the tragedy of all work and no play.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Battiscombe G. Gunn (trans.), "The Instructions of Ptah-Hotep", AAA Encyclopedia[1]
- ^ http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/authors/james_howell_quotes.html
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (December 2007) |
