The wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity of leisure: and he that hath little business shall become wise. How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough, and that glorieth in the goad, that driveth oxen, and is occupied in their labours, and whose talk is of bullocks?

-Bible (Apocrypha)
Ecclesiasticus 38:24^5.

I shall marry in haste and repeat at leisure. See Congreve 231:1.

-Cabell,James Branch
  Jurgen, ch.26.

   Otium et reges prius et beatas perdidit urbes. Often has leisure ruined great kings and fine cities.

-Catullus full name  Gaius Valerius Catullus
Carmina, no.51.

   Thus grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure: Married in haste, we may repent at leisure.

-Congreve,William
  Sharper to Setter. The Old Bachelor, act 5, sc.1.

   Some by experience find those words mis-placed: At leisure married, they repent in haste.

-Congreve,William
  Setter to Sharper. The Old Bachelor, act 5, sc.1.

Increased means and increased leisure are the two civilizers of man.

-Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
  Speech at Manchester, 3  Apr.

We must beatthe ironwhile it ishot, but we may polish it at leisure.

-Dryden,John
  Aeneis (his translation of  Virgil's  Aeneid), dedication.

Delegimus certum otium studiorum, quam incertum negotium bellorum. We have opted for the certain leisure of study, rather than the uncertain business of war.

-Gerbert later Pope Sylvester II
  Letter to Monk Raymond.

If frequent teabreaks and other manifestations of disguised leisure are regarded as goodsöand economics suggests that they be so regardedötheir inclusion in any index of output per capita might go some way to enhance Britain's comparative performance.

-Mishan, E J
Quoted in  Alex Rubner Three Sacred Cows of Economics (1970), p.47.

Or la fin,ce crois-je, en est tout'une, d'envivre plus a'   loisir et a'   son aise. Now the end, I take it, is all one, to live at more leisure and at one's ease.

-Montaigne, Michel Eyquem de
  Essais, bk.1, ch.39 (translated by Charles Cotton).

O te¤  dio e¤   a grande enfermidade da escola, o te¤  dio corruptor que tanto se pode gerar da monotonia do trabalho como da ociosidade. Tedium is the worst disease in schools, the corrupting tedium that comes equally from monotony, work or leisure.

-Pompe¤  ia, Raul d'Avila
  O Atene¤  u ('The Atheneum'), ch.7.

The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation.

-Shaw, George Bernard
  Parents and Children.

This is the prospect from the watershed, and when the traveller reaches it, it is a good thing to take an hour's leisure and lookout on the visible portions of the journey, since never in one's life can one seethe same view twice.

-Stark, Dame Freya Madeleine
  Perseus in theWind.

Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.

-Veblen,Thorstein
  Theory of the Leisure Class.

I am reported to be 'pessimistic'about broadcasting† [The] truth is that I have anticipated its complete disappearanceöconfident that the unfortunate people, who must now subdue themselves to'listening-in', will soon find a better pastime for their leisure.

-Wells, H(erbert) G(eorge)
  TheWay theWorld is Going.