Procrastination quotes: 35 verified lines to get you moving

The best procrastination quotes are short, true to their source and funny enough to make you put the phone down, like Douglas Adams: "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." Below are 35 quotes traced to the original text or a reliable quote researcher, in four sets, with one small action after each.

People have complained about putting things off for at least 4,000 years, and the quote lists online copy each other's mistakes. We left out anything we could not trace. Where a line is a translation, we name the translator. In old texts we modernized the spelling of words like "today" and "tomorrow", which used to carry a hyphen; the words themselves are unchanged.

Roomie Cafe is a free focus timer you share with friends. We make it, and the point of this page is to get you from a quote to a started timer, so we come back to it near the end.

Ancient warnings about putting things off

1. "'I will go today' is what a herdsman says; 'I will go tomorrow' is what a shepherd boy says. 'I will go' is 'I will go', and the time passes." Sumerian proverb, Collection 3, third millennium BC, in the translation of the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature [1]
2. "Do not put your work off till tomorrow and the day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill his barn, nor one who puts off his work." Hesiod, Works and Days, around line 410 (H. G. Evelyn-White's translation, 1914) [2]
3. "In the conduct of almost every affair slowness and procrastination are hateful." Cicero, Philippic 6, section 7, 43 BC (C. D. Yonge's translation) [3]
4. "He who postpones the hour of living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses." Horace, Epistles 1.2, lines 41 to 42 [4]
5. "Lay hold of today's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow's." Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 1 (R. M. Gummere's translation) [5]
6. "While we are postponing, life speeds by." Seneca, the same letter, in the very next sentence [5]
7. "Remember how long thou hast already put off these things, and how often a certain day and hour as it were, having been set unto thee by the gods, thou hast neglected it." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 2 (Meric Casaubon's translation) [6]
8. "How long, then, will you delay to demand of yourself the noblest improvements?" Epictetus, Enchiridion, section 50 in T. W. Higginson's translation (51 in most editions). The same passage warns against those who "always add procrastination to procrastination" [7].

Your next action: close this tab, pick the smallest part of the task you are avoiding and set a 10 minute timer. Come back for the next set when it rings.

Classic advice from the 1500s to the 1800s

1. "Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends." William Shakespeare, spoken by Reignier in Henry VI, Part 1, Act 3, Scene 2 [8]
2. "Be wise today; 'tis madness to defer." Edward Young, Night Thoughts, Night I (1742) [9]
3. "Procrastination is the thief of time." Edward Young, Night Thoughts, Night I (1742), two lines later [9]
4. "No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." Lord Chesterfield, letter to his son, 26 December 1749 [10]
5. "One today is worth two tomorrows." Benjamin Franklin, as Poor Richard, in "The Way to Wealth" (1758) [11]
6. "Have you somewhat to do tomorrow, do it today." Benjamin Franklin, "The Way to Wealth" (1758), the very next sentence [11]
7. "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." Thomas Jefferson, the first of ten rules for practical life in a letter to his young namesake Thomas Jefferson Smith, 21 February 1825 [12]
8. "Do not allow Idleness to deceive you, for while you give him today he steals tomorrow from you." Alfred Crowquill (Alfred Henry Forrester), Tales of Magic and Meaning (1856), spoken by an ant. Lists often print the name as "H. Croccoquill", which is a misspelling [13].
9. "Resolution faints away and postpones itself again and again just as it seemed on the verge of bursting the resistance and passing over into the decisive act." William James, The Principles of Psychology (1890), describing lying in bed on a freezing morning [14]

Your next action: write the first physical step of your task on a sticky note, something like "open the file called Budget". Put the note on your screen and start the 10 minute timer again.

Funny procrastination quotes

1. "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do day after tomorrow just as well." Mark Twain, "The Late Benjamin Franklin" (1870). Twain signed it "B. F." to tease Franklin's maxims [15][16].
2. "My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!" Mr Micawber in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850), borrowing Young's line [17]
3. "The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today." The White Queen in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (1871). We swapped a dash in the original for a comma [18].
4. "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." Don Marquis, "certain maxims of archy", in archy and mehitabel (1927) [19]
5. "Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment." Robert Benchley, as quoted in R. E. Drennan's The Algonquin Wits (1968) [20]
6. "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt (2002) [19]
7. "Death and taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them!" Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936), chapter 38 [21]
8. "Even if you are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there." Tom Sims, in his syndicated "Tom Sims Says" column, March 1925. It is usually credited to Will Rogers [22].
9. "Don't like to write, but like having written." Frank Norris, in a letter printed in 1915. This is the original of the line usually credited to Dorothy Parker [23].

Your next action: if one of these made you laugh, that is your two minutes of good mood. Spend it: put your phone in another room and start the timer before the feeling fades. If the phone is the problem, our guide to doom scrolling explains why it is so hard to put down.

Modern lines for getting started

1. "Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable are the kind who do nothing." William Feather (1928) [24]
2. "The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair." Mary Heaton Vorse, as recalled by Sinclair Lewis in 1937, who heard it from her in 1911 [25]
3. "Life, as it is called, is for most of us one long postponement." Henry Miller, The Wisdom of the Heart (1947) [19]
4. "Procrastination is opportunity's natural assassin." Victor Kiam, Going for It! (1986). A 1916 bank advert already called procrastination "the assassin of opportunity", so Kiam popularized the line rather than inventing it [26].
5. "Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance." Steven Pressfield, The War of Art (2002), page 13 [27]
6. "The most impressive people I know are all terrible procrastinators." Paul Graham, "Good and Bad Procrastination" (2005) [28]
7. "So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well." Paul Graham, the same essay. His answer: put off small errands in favor of the important work [28].
8. "Procrastination is the soul rebelling against entrapment." Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes (2010) [19]
9. "Few understand that procrastination is our natural defense, letting things take care of themselves and exercise their antifragility." Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile (2012) [19]

Your next action: ask Graham's question about your own list. Is the thing you are putting off the important one? If yes, start a 25 minute block on it now. If no, cross it off for today without guilt.

Famous procrastination quotes that are misattributed

These are on most quote lists. They are fine lines, just not from the person on the poster.

What to do right after reading a quote

A good quote gives you about two minutes of resolve. Procrastination is mostly a way to escape a bad feeling about a task, which is why a lift in mood can help you start, and why the lift fades so fast. Our guide to why you procrastinate explains the research, and how to stop procrastinating ranks 11 methods by evidence. Use the two minutes like this:

1. Pick one quote that matches how you feel. One, not five.
2. Write the next physical action under it. "Open the draft and write the first sentence", not "work on the essay".
3. Start a timer before you do anything else. Ten minutes is enough to begin.
4. When it ends, write one line about where you got.

If you liked this list, our discipline quotes follow the same rules, with a different set of names.

Where Roomie Cafe fits

Roomie Cafe is the timer part of that ritual, with company. You press start, pick what you are working on, and see who else is focusing right now. There is no webcam, no microphone and nothing to book. When the timer ends you write one line about what you got done, and friends can cheer you on.

It runs on the web and as an iPhone, iPad and Mac app, and it is free with no limit on sessions. Any timer works; what matters is that the quote turns into a session. If you need one right now, here is a 25 minute timer.

FAQ

Who said "procrastination is the thief of time"?

Edward Young, in his long poem Night Thoughts (1742). Charles Dickens later had Mr Micawber repeat it in David Copperfield, which is why the line is sometimes credited to Dickens [9][17].

What is a famous quote about procrastination?

"Procrastination is the thief of time" (Edward Young) and "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today", which appears in Lord Chesterfield's letters in 1749 and in Thomas Jefferson's rules for life in 1825 [10][12].

What is a funny quote about procrastination?

Douglas Adams: "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." Mark Twain's "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do day after tomorrow just as well" is a close second [15][19].

Did Mark Twain say "never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow"?

Yes. He wrote it in "The Late Benjamin Franklin" in 1870 as a joke on Franklin's maxims. The version credited to Oscar Wilde first appeared in a 1946 biography [16].

What did Seneca say about procrastination?

In his first letter to Lucilius, Seneca wrote "While we are postponing, life speeds by", and advised taking hold of today's task so you depend less on tomorrow [5].

References

1. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Proverbs: collection 3, 3.7. University of Oxford. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
2. Hesiod. Works and Days, around line 410. Translated by H. G. Evelyn-White (1914). Theoi. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
3. Cicero. Philippic 6, section 7, trans. C. D. Yonge. Perseus Digital Library. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
4. Wikiquote. Horace, Epistles, Book I, epistle ii, lines 41 to 42. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
5. Seneca. Moral letters to Lucilius, Letter 1: On saving time, trans. R. M. Gummere. Wikisource. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
6. Marcus Aurelius. Meditations, trans. Meric Casaubon, Book II, section I. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
7. Epictetus. The Enchiridion, trans. T. W. Higginson, section L. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
8. Shakespeare, W. King Henry VI, Part 1, Act 3, Scene 2. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
9. Young, E. (1742). Night Thoughts, Night I, lines 391 to 393. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
10. Chesterfield, Lord. Letters to His Son, letter of 26 December 1749. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
11. Franklin, B. (1758). The Way to Wealth. Teaching American History. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
12. Wikiquote. Thomas Jefferson, "A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life", letter to Thomas Jefferson Smith, 21 February 1825. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
13. Quote Investigator. Do not allow idleness to deceive you, for while you give him today he steals tomorrow from you. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
14. James, W. (1890). The Principles of Psychology, chapter 26: Will. Classics in the History of Psychology. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
15. Twain, M. (1870). "The Late Benjamin Franklin", in Sketches New and Old. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
16. Quote Investigator. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow just as well. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
17. Dickens, C. (1850). David Copperfield, chapter 12. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
18. Carroll, L. (1871). Through the Looking Glass, chapter 5. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
19. Wikiquote. Procrastination. Sourced quotes from Don Marquis, Douglas Adams, Henry Miller and Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
20. Wikiquote. Robert Benchley. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
21. Wikiquote. Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, part 4, chapter 38. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
22. Quote Investigator. Even if you are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
23. Quote Investigator. Don't like to write, but like having written. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
24. Quote Investigator. Conditions are never just right. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
25. Quote Investigator. Writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
26. Quote Investigator. Procrastination is the assassin of opportunity. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
27. Wikiquote. Steven Pressfield, The War of Art, p. 13. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
28. Graham, P. (2005). Good and bad procrastination. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
29. Quote Investigator. Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
30. Wikiquote. Abraham Lincoln: Misattributed. Retrieved 24 October 2026.