Leisure only means a chance to do other jobs that demand attention.

Holmes’s remark treats “leisure” not as idleness or escape, but as a reallocation of effort: when the pressure of one set of duties lifts, other neglected obligations immediately claim the freed attention. The line reflects a disciplined, work-centered view of life often associated with high public responsibility—suggesting that for serious-minded people, rest is rarely empty time but an opportunity to address postponed tasks (reading, correspondence, reflection, civic or family duties). It also carries a faint irony: the promise of leisure can be illusory, because the mind’s sense of duty continually generates new work. In that sense, leisure becomes a moral and intellectual space rather than a vacation.