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Quote by Marguerite Yourcenar

“Of all the joys which are slowly abandoning me, sleep is one of the most precious, though one of the most common, too. A man who sleeps but little and poorly, propped on many a cushion, has ample time to meditate upon this particular delight.”

Quote by Marguerite Yourcenar

Book:Memoirs of Hadrian
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Memoirs of Hadrian

Memoirs of Hadrian is a fictionalized account of the reign and personal life of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The novel explores the complexities of power, love, and political intrigue during the second century AD. more

Author

Marguerite Yourcenar
Marguerite Yourcenar

Marguerite Yourcenar was a renowned French novelist, known for her historical novels. Her works are celebrated for their profound insight and rich imagination, with her most famous novel being 'Orlando'. Born on June 8, 1903, she passed away on December 17, 1987. more

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Book:On Sleep
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“Back in Australia, the idea that the natural process of sleep could soon be tweaked, controlled or eliminated by technology seems ludicrous. [Former Prime Minister John Howard] chuckles when I ask whether democracy is up to the job of protecting our sleep. 'That really intrigues me. Imagine par-ing every hole at golf,' he says of the idea that we might be able to download new skills in our sleep. 'I'm sure democracy will find a way of handling that.'”

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“[Former Australian Greens Leader] Bob Brown, who spent much of his political life lying awake at night worrying about the ecological destruction of the planet, immediately leaps on the idea of 'curing sleep'. 'We are going into terrifying technologies which define our role as human beings on a beautiful finite planet and as far as we know is the only one that has got anything like us,' he says. 'We are in an age of unbridled technology for profit, and as people are spendin billions of dollars to avoid looking old, we'll have people spending billions of dollars if an answer comes along to avoid sleeping.' We are mortal beings with natural fears about existence and mortality. Sleep, he says, is part of that mortality and of being human. Sleep should be honoured, just as we should respect that we live and then we die. 'It's a little bit like winter; it's a grounding period for the exuberance of life which follows. The next round.' he says.”

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Book:On Sleep
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