Hölderlin, who wasn’t frequently at peace with himself, describes the value of a day spent working, at ease and in one’s element.  How work can feel when it works.

See also Adam Nicolson’s comment on the value and pleasure of working alone.

Anyone who has never been deprived of it, as I have, has no idea of the value of a day spent steadily working, at peace with oneself.

Source: Friedrich Hölderlin, letter to Karl Gok, August 1797, Essays and Letters, trans. and ed. by Jeremy Adler and Charlie Louth (London: Penguin Books, 2009), p. 90

Photo credit: Eugene Chystiakov at unsplash