How should busy modern people utilize the 24 hours given to them each day? Arnold Bennett’s ‘How to Live on 24 Hours a Day’ presents methods for effectively managing time and maximizing self-development.
This blog post explores Arnold Bennett’s ‘How To Live On 24 Hours A Day’. Bennett is considered one of the greatest British novelists of the 20th century and played a pivotal role in continuing the mainstream of British fiction and European realist literature.
Among the works of Arnold Bennett, known as a prolific writer, this book is one of his most widely read. Written as if sharing a relaxed conversation over a cup of coffee, this book transcends time, offering timeless lessons that resonate with anyone living in the modern world.
Arnold Bennett was born in 1867 as the eldest of nine siblings in a town known for its pottery industry in England. Both his grandfather and father were potters, and his family was said to be very poor at the time of his birth. However, Arnold Bennett’s father studied diligently despite the hardships and obtained a solicitor’s qualification. Arnold Bennett is often compared to Virginia Woolf. While Woolf, coming from the Victorian middle class, focused intensely on depicting human psychology, Arnold Bennett meticulously described material aspects throughout his entire body of work. This was largely due to his background as someone from a poor rural background.
Becoming a novelist was largely a matter of chance for Arnold Bennett. He followed his father’s path by taking the bar exam, but failing it led him to a provincial secondary school. There, he developed an interest in French and studied it, which became the foundation of his lifelong education and a source of inspiration.
In 1889, at age 22, Arnold Bennett began his life in London by taking a job as a shorthand clerk at a London law firm. From this time onward, he immersed himself in intensive reading. He became particularly engrossed in French literature, reading authors like Maupassant, the Goncourt brothers, Flaubert, and Balzac, while also developing a broad interest in Russian literature, including Turgenev and Dostoevsky. Around this time, he won prizes in magazine contests and diligently submitted work to various newspapers and literary journals, honing his writing skills. In 1896, at age 29, he left the law firm and moved to the editorial office of a women’s magazine with progressive leanings for the time, beginning to write works in succession.
Arnold Bennett moved to France at age 35, married a French woman, and became actively involved in French society and literary circles. He completed ‘The Old Wives’ Tale’, considered one of the greatest British novels of the century. He continued to create not only serious works but also light stories, didactic books, and stage plays.
After about ten years in France, Arnold Bennett returned to England and participated in various social activities. When World War I broke out, he served as head of the French section of the Information Propaganda Department. It is said that British leaders, having read his novel depicting a Parisian-born prostitute, recognized him as someone who understood the French psyche well and appointed him accordingly.
Arnold Bennett achieved extraordinary popularity across multiple fields—novels, magazines, lectures, and plays—earning substantial income. He wrote many works in hotels and owned a yacht. Bennett also gained renown as a high-caliber critic, possessing a discerning artistic sensibility that recognized the value of Impressionist art, Sergei Diaghilev’s ballet, and Stravinsky’s music before they reached London.
He wrote thirty novels, many of which reveal the essence of Arnold Bennett’s unique value judgments—cynical yet benevolent, critical yet remarkably generous.
Claims about the date of this book, ‘How To Live On 24 Hours A Day,’ are conflicting, with some asserting it was written in 1908 and others stating it appeared in 1912. Regardless, this book appears to have been written around the time Arnold Bennett gained fame as a first-rate novelist during his stay in France.
In it, he draws the reader’s attention to the obvious fact that ‘whether rich or poor, a human being can only have 24 hours a day,’ while offering concrete advice on ‘how to live within those 24 hours’. It is intriguing that he, who wrote novels in luxurious hotels and lived amid the extravagance of yachts and London high society, reveals in this book that he never put down Marcus Aurelius’s ‘Meditations’, a cornerstone of Stoicism. This aspect reveals that Arnold Bennett, though he later acquired great wealth, was fundamentally a diligent and steadfast individual.
All of Arnold Bennett’s works on practical philosophy are easy reads, clearly conveying the author’s passion and awareness in making accessible the methods for improving oneself into a better person.
‘How To Live On 24 Hours A Day’ is also likely to serve as a good reference for self-improvement. The courage and motivation needed to change one’s attitude towards life are contained within this small book. Arnold Bennett reportedly wrote letters to his family almost daily and sent numerous picture postcards even during his prolific creative period. Reading this book may offer some insight into how he managed to carve out time for such activities amidst his busy schedule.
I am confident you will not regret taking a little time to read this slim volume. A mere few hours will suffice. I recommend reading it with a light heart.
