Sleep. The final frontier. (Of the day.)
Like the voyagers of the Starship Enterprise, sleep allows us to explore strange new worlds and boldly go where no man has gone before.
As such, sleep has been the subject of many philosophical and humorous musings of minds far greater than this writer.
It turns out there’s a wealth of quotes about sleep if you’re willing to look. So we scoured the web to find the best sleep quotes on the internet and compiled them by topic below. Enjoy.
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
— Irish Proverb
They say sleep is the best tonic, and laughter is the best medicine. So why not start with some amusing sleep quotes first?
Funny quotes about sleep
1. “Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.” — Anthony Burgess
2. “I’m so good at sleeping, I can do it with my eyes closed.” — Unknown
Show off.
3. “The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more.” — Wilson Mizener
That’s science, folks.
4. “Any kid will run any errand for you if you ask at bedtime.” — Red Skelton
5. “I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know? — Ernest Hemingway
Love the honesty. That’s the importance of being, ahem, Ernest…
6. “The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.” — W.C. Fields
Thanks for the tip, Mr. Fields. Very helpful.
7. “Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.” — Dave Barry
This is undoubtedly just common sense, even if you have brown sheets.
8. “I love sleep. It’s like a time machine to breakfast.” — Unknown
9. “People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.” — Leo J. Burke
I’ve often thought the same thing. Babies are notorious for their lack of sleeping, aren’t they?
10. ”Never waste any time you can spend sleeping.” — Frank H. Knight
Deep sleep leads to deep sleep quotes
Nobody really knows what our consciousness gets up to when we close our eyes at night. But for sure, poets, artists, and even scientists have found inspiration in their dreams, and you can too. Here are a few quotes on sleep that can get a little deep.
11. “Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I’m reborn.” — Gandhi
Oof, his poor mother.
12. “To die, to sleep – to sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there’s the rub, for in this sleep of death what dreams may come…” — Hamlet
This famous Shakespeare quote comes from the same soliloquy of the even more famous “To be or not to be…”. In essence, Hamlet is debating with himself whether it’s better to live or die. But he fears that death becomes an eternal dream, or his case nightmare, from which there’s no escape. Cheery.
13. “Sleep is the best meditation.” — Dalai Lama
We’d take this one with a pinch of salt. But then again, if it’s good enough for His Holiness, it’s good enough for us.
14. “Meditation isn’t about switching off the mind. It’s about switching on…not going to sleep, but waking up.” — Gelong Thubten
Now, that seems to make more sense. Bottom line: sleep is good, so is meditation.
15. “True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment, and refreshment.” — William Penn
In today’s hustling and bustling world, it’s worth stopping to remember just how much we need sleep. It is, as Penn says, nourishment for the body. It’s essential to get the right amount of sleep for you.
16. “Even a soul submerged in sleep is hard at work and helps make something of the world.” — Heraclitus
Take comfort in the fact that you are doing the universe’s work simply by being here.
17. “As a matter of your experience, you are not a body of atoms, molecules, and cells; you are consciousness and its ever-changing contents, passing through various stages of wakefulness and sleep, from cradle to grave.” — Sam Harris
If you’re fascinated by consciousness and want to explore it while you sleep, try Mindvalley’s free Lucid Dreaming masterclass.
18. ”I love sleep; it’s my favorite.” — Kanye West
Like an ocean, Kanye, like an ocean.
Motivational quotes for better sleep
19. “Your future depends on your dreams, so go to sleep.” — Mesut Barazany
We tend to think of dreams and goals as interchangeable these days, but science suggests this quote is also literally true. When we sleep, our brain is rewiring itself based on the day’s experiences, so we know how to react if we reencounter them.
20. ”Discover the great ideas that lie inside you by discovering the power of sleep.” — Ariana Huffington
Geniuses throughout history have utilized the brainwave states of sleep, like the author of the following quote, for example.
21. “A well-spent day brings happy sleep.” — Leonardo de Vinci
Arguably the most extraordinary creative mind ever, Da Vinci was big into napping. And you can bet that, given the prolific nature of his ideas and inventions, he had many happy sleeps.
22. “Happiness consists of getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.” — Robert A. Heinlein
Sleep is definitely a factor in happiness, but we think there are a few more aspects to it. But you can get significantly happier in just seven days if you were to look.
Quotes on sleep and productivity
Many studies have proven what we intuitively know, that a tired person is less productive.
Data analysis found people with even mild insomnia experienced 58 percent more productivity loss, those who reported problems with daytime sleepiness experienced 50 percent.
So even though a few of the quotes below follow the “you-can-sleep-when-you’re-dead” philosophy, it doesn’t mean you have to.
23. ”Sleep is an investment in the energy you need to be effective tomorrow.” — Tom Roth
It’s so easy to think of sleep as a recovery strategy. But being proactive with your sleeping strategy can make multiple improvements to every area of your life.
24. “It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” — John Steinbeck
If you’re interested in learning more about how to enlist your subconscious to solve your problems while you sleep, have you considered lucid dreaming?
25. “Fatigue is the best pillow.” — Benjamin Franklin
Of course, memory foam wasn’t around in those days…
26. “Just Sleep Faster.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnie gets 6 hours of sleep a day and advises anyone who thinks they need more to just sleep faster! Now we at Mindvalley fundamentally disagree with the Terminator on this (though probably wouldn’t say so to his face.)
Everyone’s sleep needs are different. You need to make sure that you get the right amount for your chronotype, and then make sure that the quality of your sleep is good.
27. “You should never pull an all-nighter. It destroys your cognitive abilities the following day and will put you in an endless cycle of sleep deprivation.” — Vishen
It turns out super performers actually get MORE sleep. K. Anders Ericsson, the Swedish psychologist, found that peak performers sleep eight and a half hours a day. The average American? 6 hours, 50 minutes.
28. ”I’ve always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed.” — David Benioff
Everybody likes a well-swept skull, after all.
29. “No day is so bad it can’t be fixed with a nap.” — Carrie Snow
For an innovative biohack on power naps, check out Dr. Michael Breus’ Napalatte (you can thank us when you wake up.)
30. “There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest, than in all the alcohol ever distilled.” — Edward Lucas
We’re rather partial to a Gin and Tonic myself, but point taken, Edward.
The importance of sleep
Sleep is a fundamental requirement for human beings to get sleep, so much so that sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture for centuries. So here are some quotes on the importance of sleep:
31. “You can last three days without water, thirty days without food—you can last seven days without sleep.” — Dr. Michael Breus
Dr. Michael Breus knows what he’s talking about. Known simply as “The Sleep Doctor,” he’s made it his mission to educate people on getting the right amount and good quality of sleep. We’ll hear more from him later…
32. “God has made sleep to be a sponge by which to rub out fatigue. A man’s roots are planted in night as in a soil.” — Henry Ward Beecher
Love the imagery for this one. What a lovely way to imagine your brain consolidating the knowledge you learned throughout the day.
33. “Proper sleep has helped me get to where I am today as an athlete, and it is something that I continue to rely on every day.” — Tom Brady
Athletes know the value of sleep in recovery, but you don’t have to be an athlete to benefit from the mental and physical recuperation you get from a good night’s sleep.
34. “An insufficient amount of sleep can lead to serious repercussions. Some studies have shown sleep deprivation leaves people vulnerable to attention lapses, reduced cognition, delayed reactions, and mood shifts.” — The Sleep Foundation
An insufficient amount of sleep is also associated with an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, poor mental health, and early death.
35. “Sleep is an essential part of life, but more importantly, sleep is a gift.” — William C. Dement
Quotes about dreams
36. “Anyone can escape into sleep. We are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher’s the poet’s equal there.” — Emile M. Cioran
It’s nice to see a butcher raising the genius steaks.
37. “We are such stuff as dreams are made of.” — William Shakespeare
Good old Will. This one comes from Prospero, in The Tempest, and qualified as I am with an English Literature GCSE, I am pretty sure the immortal bard initially said: “made on.” Humphrey Bogart popularized the ‘stuff dreams are made of’ in the film The Maltese Falcon. But that’s a whole other essay.
38. “Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night.” — Charles Fisher
It’s always nice to have permission.
Quotes about insomnia
Insomnia (apart from the Faithless Club anthem) is not much fun. And when researching these quotes, it was easier to find quotes about having trouble sleeping than finding more beneficial sleep quotes. Probably because insomniacs have to fill time…
39. “The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world.” — Leonard Cohen
It’s nice to put a positive spin on it, but I think most people who have trouble sleeping would prefer an inferiority complex and a good night’s rest.
40. “A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” — Charlotte Brontë
Beautifully put, Lottie.
41. “There are twelve hours in the day, and above fifty in the night.” — Marie de Rabutin-Chantal
Anyone who’s lain awake at night, watching the clock tick mercilessly slowly knows this one to be true. And the next three quotes sum it up nicely:
42. “The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
You’re right, of course, but what do we do about it?!
43. “If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.” — Dale Carnegie
While not that sympathetic, if you can’t sleep, doing something does make sense as long as it’s not strenuous or detail-oriented.
44. “If a man had as many ideas during the day as he does when he has insomnia, he’d make a fortune.” — Griff Niblack
Perhaps you could jot down some of those ideas in a journal. You can always filter out sleep-deprived nonsense later.
45. “Don’t fight with the pillow, but lay down your head, and kick every worriment out of the bed.” — Edmund Vance Cooke
Easier said than done.
46. “Sleeping is a natural state. You don’t go to sleep. It comes to you.” — Marisa Peer
Mindvalley’s favorite Rapid Transformational Therapist Marisa Peer also has some great hypnosis tracks and meditations that can help you fall asleep.
Helpful sleep quotes from Mindvalley’s resident sleep doctor, Michael Breus
Still awake? If counting sleep quotes was like counting sheep, you should be out for the count by now.
Let’s finish off with some quotes from America’s #1 Sleep Doctor, Michael Breus:
47. “Trying to get good sleep while you’re stressed out is like trying to make a half-court shot while blindfolded.” — Dr. Michael Breus
You’ve got to learn to relax. Michael suggests making a ‘power down hour’ a part of your nightly sleep routine.
That’s right. You should get into the habit of going to bed at the same time every night and doing the same things every night before you do. This helps prepare your mind for rest.
48. “Turn the damn alarm clock around. You don’t need information in the middle of the night.” — Dr. Michael Breus
You also don’t need artificial light interfering with your natural body rhythm. Remember, we evolved without lights. Make the room as dark as possible.
49. “There is a big difference between going to sleep and passing out.” — Dr. Michael Breus
Alcohol remains the most popular sleep aid in the world. But while it might help you ‘pass out,’ it massively affects the quality of your sleep. Michael has a simple formula to help you know when it’s time to stop drinking before bedtime so that you can get most of the alcohol out of your system first.
50. “Know your chronotype.” — Dr. Michael Breus
You’ve probably heard of night owls and early birds. These are archetypal ‘chronotypes.’ But there are four more types of sleeper, each relating to an animal. Knowing which one you are can help you get a better night’s sleep and be at your most productive when it suits you naturally.
So find out if you’re a bear, a dolphin, a wolf, or a lion with this free sleep animal quiz.
51. “Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep.” — Dr. Michael Breus
You know it. I know it. We all know it. Life after a good night’s sleep feels great. And some simple rules can help you get a better night’s sleep every single night.
Take Dr. Michaels Breus’ Quest and discover the five-step formula for better sleep.
Just follow these five simple steps tonight to drastically improve the quality of your sleep, rejuvenate your mind and body, and wake up feeling refreshed.
