We need to stop all the pointless rushing around that most people do. They run between houses, theaters, and markets. They stick their noses in other people's business and always act like they have something important to do. Ask one of them where he's going as he leaves his house, and he'll say, "I have no idea, but I'll find some people and do something." They wander around looking for things to do. But they don't do what they planned — they just do whatever they stumble across. They move around without any purpose or plan, like ants crawling over bushes. The ants climb to the top, then back down to the bottom, and accomplish nothing.
We must limit the running to and fro which most men practise, rambling about houses, theatres, and market-places. They mind other men's business, and always seem as though they themselves had something to do. If you ask one of them as he comes out of his own door, "Whither are you going?" he will answer, "By Hercules, I do not know: but I shall see some people and do something." They wander purposelessly seeking for something to do, and do, not what they have made up their minds to do, but what has casually fallen in their way. They move uselessly and without any plan, just like ants crawling over bushes, which creep up to the top and then down to the bottom again without gaining anything.