The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.

The saying praises a state in which purposeful effort and intrinsic enjoyment converge. “Work” stands for obligation, discipline, and socially valued productivity; “play” for curiosity, experimentation, and self-motivated pleasure. To “blur the line” is to reach a mature integration where one’s labor is animated by play’s spontaneity, and play is given the seriousness and craft of work. The “supreme accomplishment” implies this is not a naïve refusal of effort but a hard-won alignment of vocation, temperament, and skill—often associated with creative or scholarly pursuits—so that sustained exertion feels like a chosen game rather than mere duty.