“I could happily lean on a gate all the livelong day, chatting to passers-by about the wind and the rain. I do a lot of gate-leaning while I am supposed to be gardening; instead of hoeing, I lean on the gate, stare at the vegetable beds and ponder.”

British writer and editor

Tom Hodgkinson is a British writer and editor, best known as the founder and editor of The Idler magazine. He established it in 1993 with his friend Gavin Pretor-Pinney. His writing and editing promote a relaxed way of living, with an emphasis on enjoying life as it comes rather than laboring for a better future that may never arrive. The magazine’s name comes from the essays Samuel Johnson wrote between 1758 and 1760 under the title The Idler.