Leisure is an attitude of mind and a condition of the soul that fosters a capacity to perceive the reality of world. With a series of philosophic, religious, and historical examples, Josef Pieper shows that the Greeks understood and valued leisure, as did the Medieval Europeans. He points out that religion can be born only in leisure--a leisure that allows time for the contemplation of the nature of God. Leisure has been, and always will be, the first foundation of any culture.