I am convinced that a light supper, a good night’s sleep, and a fine morning, have sometimes made a hero of the same man, who, by an indigestion, a restless night, and rainy morning, would have proved a coward.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Sleep is still most perfect when it is shared with a beloved. The warmth, the security and peace of soul, the utter comfort from the touch of the other, knits the sleep, so that it takes the body and soul completely in its healing.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
Don’t wait until you die to learn the warrior’s way. Do it now, each night, just before you drift off to sleep. As you review your day, consider these two questions of courage and love. Learn from each day, so that each day you can show a little more courage and a little more love. Then, as incidents occur, you may rise to the occasion and look back at the end of your life and feel good about the way you lived.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
To travel like a bird, lightly to view
Deserts where stone gods founder in the sand,
Ocean embraced in a white sleep with land;
To escape time, always to start anew…
Hooded by a dark sense of destination…
Travelers, we’re fabric of the road we go; We settle, but like feathers on time’s flow.
—Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–72) British Poet, Critic
There may be those on earth who dress better or eat better, but those who enjoy the peace of God sleep better.
—Thomas L. Holdcroft
On some nights, he has nowhere to sleep, on others he suffers from insomnia. “That’s just how it is,” thinks the warrior. “I was the one who chose to walk this path”.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
Thou driftest gently down the tides of sleep.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
There is only one thing people like that is good for them; a good night’s sleep.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Sleep, thou repose of all things; thou gentlest of the duties; thou peace of the mind, from which care flies; who dost soothe the hearts of men wearied with the toils of the day, and refittest them for labor.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Sleep is when all the unsorted stuff comes flying out as from a dustbin upset in a high wind.
—William Golding (1911–93) English Novelist
Turn on its noiseless hinges, delicate sleep!
—Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836–1907) American Writer, Poet, Critic, Editor
Come, Sleep! O Sleep, the certain knot of peace,
The baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe,
The poor man’s wealth, the prisoner’s release,
Th’ indifferent judge between the high and low.
—Philip Sidney (1554–86) English Soldier Poet, Courtier
Now blessings light on him that first invented this same sleep: it covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; ‘Tis meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. ‘Tis the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap; and the balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise-man even. There is only one thing that I dislike in sleep; ‘Tis that it resembles death; there’s very little difference between a man in his first sleep, and a man in his last sleep.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
I am accustomed to sleep, and in my dreams to imagine the same things that lunatics imagine when awake.
—Rene Descartes (1596–1650) French Mathematician, Philosopher
Bed is the poor man’s opera.
—Italian Proverb
Come, cuddle your head on my shoulder, dear,
Your head like the golden-rod,
And we will go sailing away from here
To the beautiful land of Nod.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
And if tonight my soul may find her peace in sleep, and sink in good oblivion, and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
Sleep is perverse as human nature, Sleep is perverse as a legislature, Sleep is as forward as hives or goiters, And where it is least desired, it loiters.
—Ogden Nash (1902–71) American Writer of Sophisticated Light Verse
Sleeping alone, except under doctor’s orders, does much harm. Children will tell you how lonely it is sleeping alone. If possible, you should always sleep with someone you love. You both recharge your mutual batteries free of charge.
—Marlene Dietrich (1901–92) German-American Film Actress, Cabaret Performer
Sleep … peace of the soul, who puttest care to flight.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Every season is likeable, and wet days and fine, red wine and white, company and solitude. Even sleep, that deplorable curtailment of the joy of life, can be full of dreams; and the most common actions
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English Novelist
How it is I know not; but there is no place like a bed for confidential disclosures between friends. Man and wife, they say, there open the very bottom of their souls to each other; and some old couples often lie and chat over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our hearts honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg—a cozy, loving pair.
—Herman Melville (1819–91) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist, Poet
No matter what time it is, wake me, even if it’s in the middle of a Cabinet meeting.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Even sleepers are workers and collaborators on what goes on in the universe.
—Heraclitus (535BCE–475BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
The feeling of sleepiness when you are not in bed, and can’t get there, is the meanest feeling in the world.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
The repose of sleep refreshes only the body. It rarely sets the soul at rest. The repose of the night does not belong to us. It is not the possession of our being. Sleep opens within us an inn for phantoms. In the morning we must sweep out the shadows.
—Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) French Philosopher, Psychoanalyst, Poet
A nap, my friend, is a brief period of sleep which overtakes superannuated persons when they endeavor to entertain unwelcome visitors or to listen to scientific lectures.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright