There are these six drawbacks of habitual laziness. You don’t get your work done because you think: ‘It’s too cold! It’s too hot. It’s too late! It’s too early! I’m too hungry! I’m too full!’ By dwelling on so many excuses for not working, you don’t make any more money, and the money you already have runs out. These are the six drawbacks of habitual laziness.”

That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:

“Some are just drinking buddies,
some call you their dear, dear friend,
but a true friend is one
who stands by you in need.

Sleeping late, adultery,
making enemies, harmfulness,
bad friends, and avarice:
these six grounds ruin a person.

With bad friends, bad companions,
bad behavior and alms-resort,
a man falls to ruin
in both this world and the next.

Dice, women, drink, song and dance;
sleeping by day and roaming at night;
bad friends, and avarice:
these six grounds ruin a person.

They play dice and drink liquor,
and consort with women loved by others.
Associating with the worse, not the better,
they diminish like the waning moon.

A drunkard, broke, and destitute,
thirsty, drinking in the bar,
drowning in debt,
will quickly lose their way.

When you’re in the habit of sleeping late,
seeing night as time to rise,
and always getting drunk,
you can’t keep up the household life.

‘Too cold, too hot,
too late,’ they say.
When the young neglect their work like this,
riches pass them by.

But one who considers hot and cold
as nothing more than blades of grass—
he does his manly duty,
and happiness never fails.”