Essay/Term paper: Early to bed

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Philosophy Essays

Early to Bed


"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.
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.