The relationship between work and a good or happy life has been
             understood differently throughout history. As Josef Pieper notes in
             Leisure: The Basis of Culture, the modern world has come to see work as an
             end in and of itself, while the ancient world saw that true living was
             through leisure, rather than work. Pieper suggests that it is the modern
             work ethic that has fundamentally vanquished leisure from modern life. As
             a result, he argues that our culture will ultimately be destroyed unless we
             learn to make time for reflection, and to understand beauty, truth and
             goodness.
             Pieper is one of the most well-read religious philosophers of the
             modern era. He was a professor at the University of Munster, West Germany.
             He has written a number of influential books, including Faith, Hope, Love,
             Four Cardinal Virtues, Abuse of Language Abuse of Power, and Happiness and
             Contemplation.
             Josef Pieper's book, Leisure: The Basis of Culture provides a
             thoughtful insight into the nature and value of work and leisure, and how
             these relate to a good or happy life. He notes that in the modern world,
             we have deeply internalized the Weberian protestant work ethic, or work for
             work's sake, to a deeply dysfunctional and harmful degree. In the modern
             world, Pieper argues that the main thrust of life is work. Leisure is at
             best a secondary pursuit, to be done after work is completed, and has no
             real value. In contrast, productive labor, and especially labor with a
             monetary reward, is an end in and of itself, rather than simply being a
             means to achieve goals. Pieper quotes Max Weber, in the modern world, "one
             does not work to live; one lives to work".
             Pieper then contrasts this modern view of leisure with the profoundly
             different view held by the ancient world. In the ancient world, great
             thinkers valued and understood the importance of leisure. Work was only
             seen as a means to continue living, and one...