Letter to George Washington Parke Custis (7 January 1798)
1790s
Context: Rise early, that by habit it may become familiar, agreeable, healthy, and profitable. It may, for a while, be irksome to do this, but that will wear off; and the practice will produce a rich harvest forever thereafter; whether in public or private walks of life.
“Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead.”
"The Shrike and the Chipmunks", The New Yorker (18 February 1939); Fables for Our Time & Famous Poems Illustrated (1940). Because it is derived from Benjamin Franklin's famous saying this is often misquoted as: Early to rise and early to bed makes a man healthy, wealthy, and dead.
From Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. ”
“6080. Early to go to Bed, and early to rise,
Will make a Man Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.”
Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1735) : Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
True Bills http://books.google.com/books?id=aZ4VAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Early+to+Bed+and+Early+to+Rise+is+a+Bad+Rule+for+any+one+who+wishes+to+become+acquainted+with+our+most+Prominent+and+Influential+People%22&pg=PA153#v=onepage (1904)
“Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise”
“Heaven's help is better than early rising.”
Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part II (1615), Book III, Ch. 34.
“The rising prices and scarcity of some articles of food shows that there is no control of profits.”
Irish Press (1941)
By Quill:, 1940s
Source: Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859), Ch. XIII : Character — The True Gentleman
Context: Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of looking at the bright side of things, and also of looking at the dark side. Dr. Johnson has said that the habit of looking at the best side of a thing is worth more to a man than a thousand pounds a year. And we possess the power, to a great extent, of so exercising the will as to direct the thoughts upon objects calculated to yield happiness and improvement rather than their opposites.
