Which we steal from daily duties

This busy week of mine will be looked upon by former (and brief) president James A. Garfield, who Sarah Vowell describes as something of the "slacker president" in her book Assassination Vacation. He gives a commencement address before a graduating class at his alma mater the summer before his election telling them to think of their leisure as "your gold, as your wealth, as your treasure." Now THAT is a policy I can get behind.

The best quote--and one that I will think of this week as I desperately steer my working self away from catching up on my non-required web reading and from working on my NCAA bracket¹ and from chatting with my office friends--is this:

Perhaps that study of literature is fullest which we steal from daily duties.

Okay, okay...so Garfield's favorite procrastination was reading philosophy and high-brow literature, but I like to think that if he were alive today, he'd be hopping around his favorite blogs and tending to his iTunes library.

If I ever get to a desperate point in the voting booth, I'm writing in James A. Garfield.

¹ All Are Seven readers are invited to join our pool on ESPN.