But he paid for it
dearly. In his last battles his power of resistance was so
slight that he actually went to sleep during the fighting.
Chronic drowsiness weakened his brain, weakened his force of
character. The foundation of his final ruin was laid in Russia,
when lack of sleep, and unwise living generally, had taken away
his mental elasticity and deprived him of the power to form and
carry out resolutions. ----
It is mainly the young man who needs the lecture on sleep, for
the experience of years soon proves to every human being the
folly of cheating nature by adding a few hours of drowsy
consciousness to the day.
You begin life with a certain amount of vitality, a certain
initial vital VELOCITY, which carries you through life and
makes possible certain accomplishments. When you deprive
yourself of sleep you squander this original capital. Just as
surely as the young spendthrift ruins himself financially when he
throws away his money, just so surely you bring irreparable loss
upon yourself when you go without sleep.
THE FOOD WHICH YOU EAT IS DIGESTED AND TRANSFORMED INTO NEW
TISSUE, INTO BLOOD, NERVE, MUSCLES AND BRAIN WHILE YOU ARE
SLEEPING.
Look at the men who engage in the atrocious six-day walks and
bicycle races. They eat enormously, absorbing in one day five
times as much as the ordinary man can possibly swallow.
Pages:
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296