All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.
[1659 J. Howell Proverbs (English) 12]
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.
[1825 M. Edgeworth Harry & Lucy Concluded II. 155]
‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’; but all play and no work makes him something greatly worse.
[1859 S. Smiles Self-Help xi.]
‘Is that why you give garden parties yourself, eh?‥all work and no play makes Jill a very—’‥‘Plain girl. She is that already.’
[1898 C. G. Robertson Voces Academicae i. i.]
‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,’ he observed, pouring the champagne into a glass.
[1979 R. Mutch Gemstone xi.]
‘What about your homework?’ ‘Later. All work and no Playstation makes Jack a dull boy.’
[2001 Washington Post 4 Oct. C13 (Jeff MacNelly's Shoe comic strip)]
Related to: recreation; work
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
