Samuel Johnson’s wisdom | Rachel Reeves’s big gamble | Christmas trees | Weather forecasters | Ex-X
I meant to write this yesterday but didn’t get round to it (Deadlines may be vital, but so is procrastination. I’ll tell you why … soon, 13 November). I was too busy rereading Samuel Johnson – a famous procrastinator. Never one to mince his words, he nails it in his Rambler essay of 1751: “Idleness never can secure tranquillity; the call of reason and of conscience will pierce the closest pavilion of the sluggard, and, though it may not have force to drive him from his down, will be loud enough to hinder him from sleep.”
Dorothy Clague
Richmond, North Yorkshire
• Our chancellor is taking a gamble (Rules imposed after financial crisis have ‘gone too far’, Reeves tells City bankers, 14 November). Who will pay when it goes pear-shaped again?
Kay S Powell
Llandaff, Cardiff
