"We have all seen men, and women, too, pass the whole night, even several in succession, playing at chess or cards; and what can be a more dismal, unwholesome thing than that? But the world has not a word to say against it, and their friends are nowise troubled. But give up an hour to [...]
"If you would dance or play rightly, it must be done as a recreation, not as a pursuit, for a brief space of time, not so as to make you unfit for other things, and even then but seldom. If it is a constant habit, recreation becomes an occupation." Source: St. Francis de Sales, [...]
"One must avoid excess, either in the time given to them, or the amount of interest they absorb; for if too much time be given up to such things, they cease to be a recreation and become an occupation; and so far from resting and restoring mind or body, they have precisely the contrary effect." [...]
"We need to occasionally relax the mind, and the body requires some recreation also. Cassian relates how St. John the Evangelist was found by a certain hunter amusing himself by petting a partridge, which sat upon his wrist. The hunter asked how a man of his mental powers could find time for so trifling an [...]