"Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise," is one of the
most widely quoted proverbs from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. This
proverb is seldom disputed however I fail to see the logic behind it. I think that he who
goes to bed early misses out on a lot of things and must be antisocial.
Let us just say that everybody in the world sleeps eight hours a day, and every one
goes to bed at about eleven and gets up around seven but he who wishes to be healthy,
wealthy , and wise goes to bed around eight and wake up at about four. He would still get
the same amount of sleep as the rest of the world because not only did he go to bed early
but he got up early too so that destroys the logic that he would get more sleep and
therefore feel healthier.
Benjamin Franklin 1767
This (attributed to ) originally appeared during t...
Lithograph of "Poor Richard illustrated, lessons f...If you were to sleep longer than the average person you might be able to think
more clearly which over time might improve ones physical and mental health which I
suppose could be interpreted as wisdom, but as we have established early to bed early to
rise does not result in more sleep. Perhaps if one were to wake up before the rest of the
world they would have peace and quiet which would give them an opportunity to read
which could make one more wise, but who can really learn that early in the morning?
Who exactly is going to become wealthier as a result of going to sleep earlier and
waking up earlier? I think that the average business person would become less wealthy as
a result of going to bed and getting up early. It would be pointless for a company to open
before the average consumer is even awake and it would be foolish to miss out on business
due to closing early so one's employees could get to bed early. I suppose that if one were
a cat burglar one might become more wealthy by conducting business while most of the
world is still in asleep, but I think most of the world would miss out on business by having
hours that conflicted with the rest of the world's.
Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise? Well it has yet
to be proven. Perhaps early to bed late to rise might improve one's health. It's baffleing
to determine how one is to obtain wisdom merely by going to bed early and getting up
early, unless maybe there are some really good documentaries on P.B.S. really early in the
morning. If one enjoys being alone waking up early might be the thing to do but one
should not be mislead by the proverb. Early to bed early to rise won't make you healthy,
wealthy or wise.
sleep
Sleeping above the stars
1739 Edition of Poor Richard's Almanac