Q0374

Baizhang Huaihai

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

A day without work is a day without food.
Thinker Baizhang Huaihai
School Chan
Source Chan monastic tradition
Theme Philosophy
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Chan monastic tradition, within the tradition of Chan. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of philosophy, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Baizhang Huaihai's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Baizhang Huaihai. (n.d.). A day without work is a day without food. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0374

MLA: Baizhang Huaihai. “A day without work is a day without….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0374.

Chicago: Baizhang Huaihai. “A day without work is a day without….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0374.

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