Episode 305: Rest on Your Laurels

This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase "rest on your laurels". Or since the late 1700s, DO NOT rest on your laurels. Bonus: Greek Gods, Roman Funerals, and Swedish Doctors

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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
Episode 305: Rest on Your Laurels
Record Date: January 25, 2026
Air Date: January 28, 2026

Intro

Shauna:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase. 

I’m Shauna Harrison

Dan:
And I’m Dan Pugh

Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today.

Opening Hook
Have you ever been in a situation where you worked really hard to do something, and then succeeded? Maybe you studied to pass an exam or you spent many long nights finishing a big project. Or after many years grinding away, you get that big promotion at work. 

And then you think, “I’ve done it. I achieved success, so now I don’t need to try so hard anymore”. You are proud of what you have already achieved. And at first, that success feels great, but over time you fall behind while others keep growing and moving forward. And you realize you have grown complacent… that you are ‘resting on your laurels’.

Meaning
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, to rest on your laurels means:

Quote
to be satisfied with past success and do nothing to achieve further success
End Quote
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rest%20on%20your%20laurels 

When we hear this phrase, it is mostly used in the negative, as in ‘someone did some great things and is now just coasting through life on the fame or success of that previous thing’. But to understand how we got here, we have to recognize the original versions of the phrase were a positive thing. It was good to have earned your laurels and be able to relax now. 

But… why laurels? And to even talk about laurels, we need to talk about the greek god, Apollo. Here’s a quick note on the god of light and the sun, music, poetry, and the arts 
from greekhistoryhub.com:

Quote
Apollo's origins can be traced back to the early Hellenic period, around the 8th century BCE, when ancient Greeks began to formalize their religious practices and beliefs. His worship likely developed from a fusion of various local cults and traditions, reflecting the complex tapestry of Greek mythology. Some scholars suggest that Apollo may have originally been a solar deity, symbolizing the life-giving power of the sun, which aligns with his later associations with light and healing.
End Quote
https://www.greekhistoryhub.com/pages/the-symbolism-of-the-laurel-in-apollo-s-cult-and-worship-711be7a9.php

There’s a whole mythological mess that happens with Apollo, where he slays the Python at Delphi. Apollo, full of arrogance with his epic kill, began mocking the famous archer Eros, also known as Cupid. We’ll turn to TheCollector.com for Eros / Cupid’s reaction:

Quote
The next thing Cupid did was something Apollo did not see coming.  The god of love stroke his wings and flew right next to the god of music. He then shot him on the chest with a “golden arrow with a sharp glistening point”. This arrow did not kill or hurt Apollo. The true injury was not corporeal, it was sentimental, but Apollo would learn that soon.

With a second arrow, a “blunt one with lead beneath its shaft”, Cupid shot Daphne, a nymph who also happened to be a virgin huntress of the goddess Artemis. Daphne was very beautiful and many men came to ask her hand. However, she was devoted to hunting and following the laws of the goddess Artemis, who demanded chastity and virginity.

…Cupid’s arrows, … both had special abilities. The one that hit Apollo, was an arrow of love and intense passion. The moment he got hit by the arrow, Apollo spotted Daphne hunting in the wild and unable to contain his passion went after her. However, the arrow that hit Daphne, was an arrow that filled the nymph’s heart with disgust for the god who appeared in front of her.
Cupid’s revenge was cruel. Apollo was madly in love with a woman who hated him with every ounce of her being.
End Quote
https://www.thecollector.com/apollo-and-daphne/

Daphne tried to run, but Apollo was persistent. Eventually, she begged her father to rescue her from Apollo. And her father turned her into a tree. Specifically, the Laurus Nobilis, or laurel tree. And so Apollo, and thus his worshippers, revered the laurel tree. 

And this gives us the important back-story to understand the Pythian Games, held every four years, which recognized competitors throughout Greece for their athletic prowess. The games, named after Apollo’s defeat of the Python at Delphi, were one of the four panhellenic games of ancient Greece. The others were the Nemean Games, the Isthmian Games, and the Olympic Games. The Pythian games were in honor of Apollo. Which explains why the winner was awarded a laurel wreath. This signified their great accomplishment while showing reverence to Apollo. 

The connection of the laurel as an honor was further solidified by the Roman’s extensive borrowing of Greek culture. Here’s a note from Tom Curely, writing for History Hogs in 2024:

Quote
In addition to symbolizing victory, the laurel wreath was also used to decorate funerals in Roman times. The wreath was often placed on the head of the deceased as a way of honoring their accomplishments in life. Using the wreath in this context helped emphasize its significance as a symbol of achievement and success, even beyond athletics.
End Quote
https://historyhogs.com/laurel-wreath-symbolism/ 

During the time period often known as “the Renaissance”, many classical traditions were reignited as the arts took on a more popular role in European society. During this time, laurels once again were on display through paintings, sculptures, and other works of the ancient pantheons. By the early 1600s, the idea of a great artist, specifically pertaining to poems and stories, became known as a laureate, and official and unofficial roles were created in governments for a poet laureate. We’ll look more at the history of poet laureates of the world in our Behind the Scenes video, which airs every Friday on our Patreon. That’s patreon.com/bunnytrailspod.

And this further solidifies, in the 1600s, to the usage of laurels - through laureates - as being representative of a person who has accomplished great things in their life. Many of the early examples of resting on your laurels include relaxing or reposing in the shadow of your laurel, the figurative laurel tree that represented the great works you have been publicly recognized for. And that was a good thing. 

1680
Looking at the words themselves, here’s an early example of ‘laurels’ being used in this figurative but positive way. This is from the 1680 work The orphan, or, The unhappy-marriage : a tragedy, as it is acted at His Royal Highness the Duke's Theatre. It was written by Thomas Otway.

Quote
Nevertheless, I thought my self not quite unhappy, so long as I had hopes this way yet to recompense my disappointment past: When I consider’d also that Poetry might claim right to a little share in your Favour: For Tassa, and Ariosto, some of the best, have made their Names Eternal, by transmitting to after-Ages the Glory of your Ancestors: And under the spreading of that shade, where two of the best have planted their Lawrels, how Honoured should I be, who am the worst, if but a branch might grow for me. 
End Quote
https://archive.org/details/orphanorunhappym00otwa/page/n9/mode/2up?q=lawrels 

This is a great example of an early usage of the ‘laurel’ meaning someone who has given their service and has earned the right to relax on their laurels. 

1716
Here’s another example of resting on your laurels being positive. This is also one of the earliest examples of our phrase, though it is written in prose. This is from Poems on Affairs of the State From the Year 1640 to the Year 1704, published in 1716. Our specific usage comes from a poem titled The Prince’s Welcome to London. The phrase uses a familiar word that means something different today. Umbrage, today, is usually reserved to mean ‘offensive’, but in the 1700s the word often referred to shade, like that of a tree. 
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/umbrage
It comes from the latin word Umbra, which is also the root of umbrella. So when you hear umbrage in our quote, think shade from a tree, rather than offensive or resentful.

Quote
Now clear’d from sullen Frowns our Realms are blest
And in the Umbrage of your Laurels rest
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Poems_on_Affairs_of_State_From_1640_to_t/qOxDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=rest+on+your+%22laurels%22&pg=PA250&printsec=frontcover

1723
Here is another example, this one from a 1723 translation of a work called Memoirs of Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, written by himself. Cardinal de Retz died in 1679, so the work was completed by that time, but the English terminology is from the 1723 translation by P. Davall. 

Quote
The Duc d’Orleans and the Prince de Conde - the latter attached to the Court by his covetous temper - thought themselves above being rivalled; the Duke was old enough to take his repose under the shadow of his laurels; M. de Nemours was but a child…
End Quote
https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcardina0000unse/page/80/mode/2up?q=shadow 

This uses an early version of the phrase with words like ‘repose’ and ‘shadow’ and continues to be a positive thing. The Duke was older and had achieved many great things. Thus, he could repose, or relax, under the shadow of his works. He’d earned it. 

It’s not exactly clear what shifted in the public mindset to go from a positive connotation to a negative one, but at some point in the 1700, the phrase shifted to a point where it was no longer acceptable to rely on past contributions to society. 

1798
Here’s an example of the term being used in the negative. It is published in the 1798 work Public Characters. This is the opening line from a story by Charles James Fox. And as far as opening lines go, it’s a pretty good one. 

Quote
All the great men of the present day are either the offspring of, or immediately descended from new families. The ancient nobility repose under the laurels of their ancestors.
End Quote
1798:https://www.google.com/books/edition/Public_Characters/5bI4AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=repose+on+%22laurels%22&dq=repose+on+%22laurels%22&printsec=frontcover 
1804:https://www.google.com/books/edition/Characters_of_Fox_Horne_Tooke_Erskine_Je/3mZlAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=repose+on+%22laurels%22&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover 

He goes on to be rather harsh about the old nobility, how they do not strive for greatness, do not desire to be learned, and do not take note of the needs of society. They just let those things happen and continue to live in the world built by their ancestors. 

1898
Fast forward 100 years and we are still seeing the phrase as a negative. This example comes from Teddy Roosevelt in a speech to his troops just before the famous Rough Riders returned home following the Armistice for the Spanish-American War. The speech is dated September 4, 1898. I’ve pulled this quote from Appendix G of the 1911 work The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt.

Quote
What we have done only calls us to renewed exertion in the future. I know you are not likely simply to rest on your laurels. Life is a constant struggle, and no man can afford to remain idle, to rely in the present upon the deeds of an everfading past. 
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Rough_Riders/nLRu2YyzRjUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=rest+on+your+laurels&pg=PA316&printsec=frontcover 

In this case, Roosevelt made a great case for how the concept of resting on one's laurels was viewed, at least by him. And he was a pretty famous guy in American culture. 

From the mid 1800s and beyond, the phrase has mostly been used in the way we are currently using it, with a comment on someone who is, or might, rely on their past experiences to get them ahead in the future. 

Up next we have several modern uses to cover and we’ll get to those, right after we say thank you to our sponsors.

A Quick Thank You
Shauna:
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Modern Uses

To start our modern uses, I thought I’d point out an area where many of you may already be familiar with lauris nobilis. If you have done any cooking in the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom, you are likely familiar with the herb, or herb, that we call a bay leaf. While there are many types of bay leaf, the most common one you see in stores is the laurel leaf. I didn’t realize that until I was researching this episode, but now I totally understand why it is described as an ‘aromatic leaf’. So there’s another cool fact for your brain to file away.

2014
Here is a usage of the phrase I found on the Sobriety for Women website. It encourages those in the recovery process to understand that resting on your laurels can lead to relapse. But to also remember that sobriety is a marathon, not a sprint. They note page 85 in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says:

Quote
“It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. ‘How can I best serve Thee – Thy will (not mine) be done.’ These are thoughts, which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will.”
End Quote
https://sobrietyforwomen.com/resting-laurels/ 

In this usage, resting on your laurels is definitely being used with negative outcomes. But they recognize that when slipups happen, we can still continue to grow.

2016
Rest on Your Laurels is a song by John Kingsley off the 2016 album About the Town. Kingsley is described on Soundcloud as a folk singer and songwriter. The song includes this line:

Quote
Rest on your laurels
There’ll be more fish to fry
Tomorrow
End Quote
https://soundcloud.com/user-999613261/rest-on-your-laurels 

We’ve been discussing the first line, but the second line means there will be more to do tomorrow, but you can leave those problems for tomorrow. Similar to saying we will cross that bridge when we come to it. The song is encouraging the listener to rest on their laurels for today, but to remember there is more work to be done tomorrow.

2018
Don’t Rest on Your Laurels, Repose on Them is a 2018 article on Medium posted by Lauren Dean. In it, she talks about earning her doctorates and the period afterwards. 

Quote
One year ago today I defended my PhD thesis in sociology in the Kingdom of Sweden. A defense that later culminated in a graduation ceremony with a hundreds-of-years-old tradition of crowning the new doctors with laurel leaves. A tradition started in ancient Greece for great accomplishments. An honor.

For the past year I have “reposed on my laurels.” That is, I have achieved no greater success — or even strived for one — than the earning of my PhD. And I have felt guilty about that every second of every day for the past year.

A moment that was for me such a great achievement, that I was so proud of, that was the apex of many years of work, ended up feeling like a great loss. What had I actually achieved if I did not keep achieving?
End Quote

But she continues in the article discussing the model of striving, achievement, honor, and more striving. And how, in the United States, her birth country, it isn’t acceptable to rest on your laurels. Instead of being content with our success, we must continue to push. She notes every battle won requires a new battle cry, a new enemy, and a new territory to conquer. Which begs the question… what is the point of success?

She closes with these words of wisdom:
Quote
Achieving a goal is a reason to celebrate. It is a reason to be proud. And, it is good enough if it is good enough for you.

Striving for a goal, and then striving to come up with a newer (bigger! better!) goal, is tiring. But if there is no greater outcome to be achieved, there is no striving to achieve it, and the cycle is broken. Pleasure is reinstalled in the model for life. Our reality is changed.

In that sense, I am not only reposing on my “laurels” (that is, my achievements). I am resting on a solid identity of who I was and who I am now. A subjective identity that doesn’t measure you against me, or me against my prior self, because those things are qualitatively incomparable.

It is ok to achieve your goals. It feels good. And it is ok to stop trying to outdo yourself. That feels good too — once you can stop feeling so guilty about it.
End Quote
https://medium.com/@ljdean/dont-rest-on-your-laurels-repose-on-them-ee6bbf66637 

2023
Resting on My Laurels is a 2023 song by Victoria Whitlock. The song is about the interplay of accomplishment, contentment, and motivation. Here is the opening verse:

Quote
I’m resting on my laurels
Though my laurels aren’t enough
I’m feeding into my sorrows
Though my sorrows aren’t that tough
I am tryna make things happen
Though the happening's pretty rough
I just wanna have things easy
But my mind is filled with stuff
End Quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR9WndnBpPc 

2024
The Rest of the Laurels is the 2024 debut album of Janani K. Jha.
Each song features a story from mythological, but they all come together as an album to tell a new story, too. Here is a brief poem she includes with the album:

Quote
Here's the tale I've come to tell
of two options when it comes to Hell:
simmer in the ashes, let the flames lick your thighs; or,
go through it & back and
fall out the other side…
End Quote
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtHqTBC18zLq3D8IRGgDYpmCDOW6AbGN7 

The laurels have the mythological tie, while the album is about continuing to press forward without resting on past experiences. Which makes it a fun play-on-words with the popular phrase.


Wrap Up
For me, I have never really liked the phrase, “Don’t rest on your laurels”. But I’m not much of an “absolute” kind of guy. I like wiggle room. Now that I’ve learned the phrase was originally a positive one, I think I like it much better. I think it is perfectly acceptable for someone to have given much in life and then be able to relax, confident in a life well lived. And though the phrase has taken on a more micro view these days, I still agree with Dr. Dean in her Medium article: It is okay to rest on your laurels for a time. We should be able to bask in the successes as they happen. One can get too much of a good thing, but for the most part, I say repose under the shade of those laurels, my friends. And you can cross those other bridges when you come to them later. 

Dan:
That’s about all we have for today. If you have any thoughts on the show, or pop culture references we should have included, 
reach out to us on Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod or comment on our website bunnytrailspod.com

Shauna:
It’s poll time!

Recently we asked our Patrons, how do you usually start your day?

Many of you work some exercise, mostly yoga, into your morning routine. 

Cheryl says:
Quote
Yoga, meds and then a bath and tea.
End Quote

Allan notes:
Quote
Really depends on the day. Always breakfast first, but then yoga if there's time.
End Quote

And Mary adds:
Quote
Lately, I lay in bed for a few minutes waking up. Then, I jump right in. I turn on NPROne and get ready for the day. However, I really prefer to get up to Native American flute music and yoga.
End Quote

Dan:

Jan says:
Quote
Tea and some sort of breakfast as I balance the checkbook and read the news. Might have a YouTube thunderstorm sounds video going in the background during that. Then upstairs to the office for work.
End quote

For me, I have a sign over my kitchen sink that reads "All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast". My days start slowly, usually with coffee, and quiet time. If I had a newspaper, I would probably read it to start the day. But online news is awful, so I only read it once a week. I do usually check my budgeting app to make sure nothing unexpected has happened. I’ve had too much fraud over the years to not keep an eye on it. I do really wish I was a workout-in-the-morning kind of person, but that is just not me, no matter how hard I tried for a while. So it is a relaxing start to the day for me with a cup of coffee or tea whenever possible. Any physical activity has to happen mid-morning or later. Once I get going, my day is work work work until my list is done. Then I can relax again. The relaxation book-ends of my day seem to work for me.

Shauna:

I don’t really start my day… my day starts and I’m there and I have to go along with it. Sometimes, I even try to ignore it, but it just keeps happening. If I’m on holiday, though, I often start the day with either coffee, lounging, or jumping up to do something fun… just depends on how I feel at the moment. 

If you want to take part in our silly polls, head over to the Patreon. We’d love to hear your take on our 
weekly poll questions! And it’s free at patreon.com/bunnytrailspod 

Outro 

Shauna:
Thanks for joining us. We’ll talk to you again next week. Until then remember, 

Together:
Words belong to their users.