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• All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
  All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

  A person who never takes time off from work becomes boring and bored.
• all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
  all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)

  Hard work without time for recreation is not good for one's health, as in If Harry keeps up that grueling schedule, he's headed for a breakdown—all work and no play isn't healthy. A proverb included in James Howell's collection of 1659, this phrase remains so familiar that it is often shortened, as in the example.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Cultural  

1. A person who never takes time off from work becomes boring and bored.

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all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy) Idioms  

1. Hard work without time for recreation is not good for one's health, as in If Harry keeps up that grueling schedule, he's headed for a breakdown—all work and no play isn't healthy. A proverb included in James Howell's collection of 1659, this phrase remains so familiar that it is often shortened, as in the example.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)

He said he believed in the old saying: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

From Dubliners by James Joyce

Perpetual amusement-seeking: brings ennui, satiety, and disgust.—"All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy," is as true as that "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

From Practical Ethics by William De Witt Hyde

He recognized the natural desire for innocent amusement, and the old axiom "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," had its full weight of meaning to him.

From The Mormons and the Theatre or The History of Theatricals in Utah by John S. Lindsay

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, or, at least, that’s what I’ve always been taught to believe.”

From Dorothy's Triumph by Evelyn Raymond

He went humming on as he examined the sweetmeats a favourite proverb of his, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

From The Crown of Success by A. L. O. E.

I just don't really feel like it at the moment because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2018

Oh," said Rolfe, "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

From A Terrible Temptation A Story of To-Day by Charles Reade

One ought always bear in mind the adage "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

From The Children of the World by Paul Heyse

Is it true that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?

From The Mind and Its Education by George Herbert Betts

But "all work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy."

From Questionable Amusements and Worthy Substitutes by J. M. Judy

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