THE VALUE OF SLEEP

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 10, 1890

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 16, No. 10.

THE VALUE OF SLEEP.

FEW realize the important part sleep plays in all the affairs of life. It soothes the afflicted, rests the weary, and heals the sick. How different the world looks after a good night's slumber! At night, tired, fretful, discouraged, the morning dawns in hope and cheer, if sleep pressed tenderly our eyelids. But many, disregarding all this, never seek repose, but wait for repose to seek them,—even urge them to much-needed rest. Sleep is so precious a thing it must sometimes be wooed ere it is won, especially if it has often been rejected. Many never realize its value until they have sought for it in vain. Robert Collyer, in "Talks to Young Men," speaks forcibly of the value of sleep, and from his well-chosen remarks on this subject, we select the following:—

"Now, let me draw a few simple lessons from this truth I have tried to open. You, young men, must remember that one grand factor in your well-being, and your well-doing, will lie in a good sound sleep. You may think it does not matter; take my word for it—the word of a man who has had to walk through life's rugged ways to his threescore years and three—that it does matter a great deal.

"Your sleep is the hidden treasure of your youth to-day, and to-morrow it will be the margin you will have to draw on for your old age. Do you think you can racket round into the small hours, snatch a brief repose, and then be just as good as ever to hold and bind? It is not true. Many a young man sells his birthright in this way, and cannot have it back again, though he seek it with many tears. Take your honest eight hours' sleep, if you may; there is life in it, and grace. It is one of the good angels which will save you from the temptation to drink, give you an even mind, brighten all your powers, and do many things for you no other power can do.

"So when you get farther on, and are in the thick of the world's business, do not forget what virtue lies in this good habit. You may make more money by sitting up nights, but the chances are you will not keep it; carve out a good business, and then have to quit; or grow eminent in your profession, and then break down. Good-fortune turns greatly on good habits, and this is one of the best. We can go just so far, and then we have to fall back on nature and on God for new power. But if we say, 'I will work double tides,' and so get fevered and out of true with the true laws of success in life, then the day comes when our power turns to something like paralysis.

"Your true business or professional man is the man who rises well rested, with a cool, clear brain, and steady nerve—the man who can shake off business after business hours, go to sleep like a yearling child, and rise like the sun, rejoicing as a strong man to run a race. . . . And it is a great mistake in good men to say this is a shameful waste of time, when it may be, and so often is, the best possible use of time; or that we should be at our work or our prayers while still we need this on which the worth of the work or the prayer is to turn. I say that to sleep one hour more in such a case is better than either to labor or to pray, and may bring us nearer both to God and man."—Selected.