Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1735 ed.)

Dave — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 14:33:49 +0000

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1735 ed.)
(Source)

There are a variety of predecessors to Franklin focused on early rising. Aristotle mentions it in his Economics using very similar language to "healthy, wealthy, and wise". (He also suggests, though, staying up late for similar reasons.) An old English proverb (mentioned in 1496) notes “Whoever will rise early shall be holy, healthy, and happy.”

Eventually this morphs (and begins including advice to go to bed early, too) into what John Clarke records in Paroemiologia Anglo-Latina in usum scholarum concinnata [Proverbs English and Latine adopted for use in schools] (1639), the same wording as Franklin uses.

As with many popular Poor Richard adages, this one has been riffed against by many others, e.g., Thurber, Animaniacs.

More discussion about this quote's origins: About the Old Proverb “Early to Bed, Early to Rise…”.

Adams, Douglas -- Last Chance to See, ch. 4 (1990)

Dave — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 14:31:45 +0000

I’ve never understood all this fuss people make about the dawn. I’ve seen a few and they’re never as good as the photographs, which have the additional advantage of being things you can look at when you’re in the right frame of mind, which is usually around lunchtime.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Last Chance to See, ch. 4 (1990)

WIST Quotations

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1735 ed.)

Adams, Douglas -- Last Chance to See, ch. 4 (1990)