Idleness

If you want to get a favor done by some obliging friend,

And want a promise, safe and sure, on which you may depend,

Don’t go to him who always has much leisure time to plan;

But if you want your favor done, just ask a busy man.

The man with leisure never has a moment he can spare,

He’s always “putting off” until his friends are in despair.

But he whose every waking hour is crowded full of work,

Forgets the art of wasting time, He cannot stop to shirk.

So when you want a favor done and want it right away,

Go to the man who constantly works twenty hours a day.

He’ll find a moment sure, somewhere, that has no other use,

And fix you while the idle man is framing an excuse.

__________

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The Busy Man