I think a better way for him to make the argument is that we should all try and push ourselves a little bit. I share your sentiment. I use enough mental energy

I think a better way for him to make the argument is that we should all try and push ourselves a little bit. I share your sentiment. I use enough mental energy during the day that often it's hard to choose something that isn't passive. There have been a couple times where I've pushed myself to read a great work of literature. Something within the canon. My preference is to read cheap, dime store crime novels from authors like Kendra Elliot. I decided to tackle War and Peace (had I been less ambitious, I could have chosen an easier and shorter Tolstoy novel, or something from mid-20th century). I hacked away at it for months on end, and I will forever be grateful for that. There are things I learned about myself, descriptions of people and places, and ideas about the world that will stay with me till I die. There is an order-of-magnitude difference between the novels I read to relax and ones like War and Peace. People should absolutely fill their time with the things they find dear and refreshing. This is compatible with the idea that we should try and push ourselves a bit too, if only for our own sake.