Meaning

Colton is describing a contradiction at the heart of our relationship with sleep. We often resist going to bed even when tired, and yet once we have slept we are reluctant to leave the warmth and ease of that state. The bed becomes a symbol of something desired from a distance but not always appreciated until we are already in it, and then over-appreciated once we must leave. The observation is both comic and quietly philosophical, pointing to a broader human tendency to want things most when we are about to lose them.

Context

This line comes from Lacon, a collection of reflections and aphorisms published by Colton in 1820. The title is a reference to Laconia, the region of ancient Greece associated with the Spartans, whose brevity of speech gave us the word laconic. Colton structured the work as a series of numbered observations on human nature, morality, and society, written with a wit and economy that made the book popular in its time. The bed paradox is characteristic of his style: a small, familiar experience elevated into a compact philosophical point.

About the author

Charles Caleb Colton (1780 to 1832) was an English clergyman, writer, and collector whose life was marked by considerable restlessness and personal difficulty. He is remembered today almost entirely for Lacon, which achieved wide readership in both Britain and America and introduced several phrases that entered common usage. Colton had a gift for distilling observations about everyday human behavior into neat, memorable sentences, and his work influenced later writers and compilers of quotations.