Samuel Johnson on Sleep

Samuel Johnson is a brilliant essayist and 1700s pop psychologist. I’m reading a selection of his essays from “The Rambler” and “The Idler” [Amazon link]. I re-wrote the following essays in my own words; the exercise helps me explore writing styles, voices and phrasing.

Here it is! A re-write of Samuel Johnson on Sleep, no. 32 in “The Idler”.

People rarely think deeply about common activities. They confuse familiarity with knowledge, thinking they understand such things because they are used to them. But the thinking man looks deeper, knowing that the more he learns the less he understands.

Take, for example, sleep. A great part of our lives are spent sleeping. Every animal sleeps; some philosophers think vegetables sleep, too. Yet with something this important, we don’t know the cause, we can’t explain how falling asleep works and we’re unsure what precise benefits we receive from rest.

There are many theories, but none touch the truth. Sleep affects us all, the loud and the timid, the industrious and the lazy, the happy and the melancholy. Philosophers have long stated that all are equal in death. Sleep does the same: both the rich and poor succumb to its spell.

It is said that Alexander the Great thought himself a mortal only by his need for sleep. Whether he found it useful or not, to him it was a sign of human weakness: a body that needs sleep so regularly, yet dies so quickly.

No matter what emotional state we are in, no matter how passionate and absorbed we are, we eagerly await sleep. We will always retreat to sleep, casting aside a day good or bad, removing our senses and disabling our mental faculties.

Why then are we so greedy, ambitious and jealous? Even he who has everything is separated from his riches in slumber. Differences between us are more superficial than real, when the strong and timid, the famous and workaday, all desire that state of unconscious bliss.

We value sleep so highly that few are happy with its quality. Alexander would use wine as an aid, and almost every man has some trick to quicken its approach.

We spend little of life doing important things. Our time is passed in an equivocal fog. Daydreams, musings and idle thoughts disappear as quickly as they come, and soon the day is gone.

For some, their happiest moments are spent in solitary reflections, lost in their imagination, dreaming of untold riches and incomparable power, fancying a fascinating and luxurious life. For others, solitude is frightening, and they retreat to constant companionship. But the difference is slight; in solitude we wrap ourselves in our dreams, and in socializing we share them. The goal of both is to forget ourselves.

And here’s an original version.

July Quotes: “For out of the ground we were taken for the dust we are, and to the dust we shall return.” (from The Book of Eli)

Book of Eli

Both thorn and thistles it should bring forth, for us. For out of the ground we were taken for the dust we are, and to the dust we shall return. – Denzel Washington in Book of Eli

…as Eli backs calmly into the shadows beneath a bridge, then proceeds to swiftly kill 5 brigands.

Abstinence is as easy for me as temperance would be difficult. – Samuel Johnson

Gretchen Rubin mentioned the above one at WDS. Very personally relevant – I’ll sometimes throw away food (forgive me) because keeping it around == eating it.

If I was to invent a time machine, I would come back in time and give it to myself, thereby eliminating the need to invent it in the first place. – Sheldon Cooper in Big Bang Theory

Ha ha.

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. – from Dave McClure’s blog

I try to be aware of my actions, but that, too, can be overkill.

Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. – Oscar Wilde

Given my fondness for quotes, this is very a propos.

This is how he grows: by being defeated, decisively, by constantly greater beings. – Rainer Maria Rilke

LOVE IT.

Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day. – Bertrand Russell

Sardonic and true.

Knowing when to shut up is as important as saying the right thing – Adam Carrolla

If you don’t listen to (the old) Loveline, The Adam & Dr. Drew Show, or The Adam Carolla Show…well, you’re missing out.

What I mean is, I didn’t start running because somebody asked me to become a runner. Just like I didn’t become a novelist because someone asked me to. One day, out of the blue, I wanted to write a novel. And one day, out of the blue, I started to run – simply because I wanted to. I’ve always done whatever I felt like doing in life. People may try to stop me, and convince me I’m wrong, but I won’t change. – Haruki Murakami

“I’ve always done whatever I felt like doing in life.” That pretty much applies to me. It’s not so great, either – frequently coming at the cost of [pick one: relationships, friendships, family, happiness, peace of mind].

Basically I agree with the view that writing novels is an unhealthy type of work. When we set off to write a novel, when we use writing to create a story, like it or not a kind of toxin that lies deep down in all humanity rises to the surface. All writers have to come face-to-face with this toxin and, aware of the danger involved, discover a way to deal with it, because otherwise no creative activity in the real sense can take place. (Please excuse the strange analogy: with a fugu fish, the tastiest part is the portion near the poison – this might be something similar to what I’m getting at.) – Haruki Murakami

I’d like to write a novel. But who wouldn’t.

Be a blind samurai. – Chris Tam

My takeaway from an amazing convo with Chris…better explained in-person :)

Talent hits the target no one else can hit. Genius hits the target no one else can see. – Arthur Schopenhauer

曾经沧海难为水
Once you see the ocean, no other water can compare
除却巫山不是云
No other clouds are more impressive than those of Mountain Wu
取次花丛懒回顾
Now I walk through the flowers (other women), yet never look at any of them,
半缘修道半缘君
In part because of you, in part because of my meditations

Saw this on Quora. Don’t know every Chinese character here, yet, but even the gist is profound.

Failure is a made up thing, don’t apply meaning to failure – David DeAngelo’s 77 laws

A frequent reminder is helpful.

That’s not to say that a minuscule percentage of people don’t possess an innate, obsessive desire to improve—what psychologist Ellen Winner calls “the rage to master.” – The Talent Code

Here’s more on raging masters.

That’s it, folks. See here for a list of favorites.