WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Tempest, Act 2, sc. 1, l. 344ff (2.1.344-349) (1611)

Dave — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 17:31:39 +0000

ARIEL: While you here do snoring lie,
Open-eyed conspiracy
His time doth take.
If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber and beware.
Awake, awake!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Tempest, Act 2, sc. 1, l. 344ff (2.1.344-349) (1611)
(Source)

Warning the sleeping Gonzalo of Antonio and Sebastian's plot to kill Alonso.

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…”.

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Dawn,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)

Dave — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 16:29:25 +0000

DAWN, n. The time when men of reason go to bed. Certain old men prefer to rise at about that time, taking a cold bath and a long walk, with an empty stomach, and otherwise mortifying the flesh. They then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy health and ripe years; the truth being that they are hearty and old, not because of their habits, but in spite of them. The reason we find only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the others who have tried it.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Dawn,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1881-12-02).

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 24, The Fifth Elephant (1999)

Dave — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 16:55:45 +0000

A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 24, The Fifth Elephant (1999)
(Source)

Campbell, Beatrice -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 16:58:53 +0000

The deep, deep peace of the double bed after the hurly-burly of the chaise-longue.

Beatrice Campbell (1865-1940) English actress [Mrs. Patrick Campbell, née Beatrice Stella Tanner]
(Attributed)
(Source)

Describing her recent marriage. Quoted in Alexander Woollcott, "The First Mrs. Tanqueray," While Rome Burns (1934)