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Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: 14 Quotes for Early Birds

Waking up early isn’t necessarily wired into all of our systems — especially, for instance, if there is a particularly bingeable show streaming that week. Still, there have been myriad studies that suggest early birds can be healthier, more productive, and in many cases, even happier than those who enjoy burning the midnight oil.

The reasons are manifold, and range from the practical to the philosophical. For one, there are often more daylight hours available to early risers, meaning it can be easier to get more done in a span of 24 hours. For another, there's the fact that waking up with the sun is the way most of our circadian rhythms are intended to operate, so early risers are more attuned to the natural cycles of the earth.

Suffice it to say, there are plenty of reasons to stop hitting the snooze button and just get up already. Still, it’s not always easy to break our stubborn habits. These 14 quotes serve as a reminder of the benefits of being an early bird. After all, as Benjamin Franklin once said, "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

I never knew a man come to greatness or eminence who lay abed late in the morning.
Jonathan Swift

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Waking up early on Saturday gives me an edge in finishing my work with a very relaxed state of mind. There is a feeling of time pressure on weekdays that aren’t there on weekends. If I wake up early in the morning before anybody else, I can plan the day or at least my activities with a relaxed mind.
Oprah Winfrey

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How we start our day determines how we create our life. Are you snoozing through your morning … snoozing through your life … and snoozing through your unlimited potential?
Hal Elrod

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Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.
Lemony Snicket

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Don’t let your alarm clock be the only reason you wake up.
Ray Lewis

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Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it.
Richard Whatley

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Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.
Wayne Huizenga

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Wake up early and tackle the day before it tackles you. Be on offense, not defense.
Evan Carmichael

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Get up early. I dare you to do it for a few weeks. Your life is too precious a thing to waste. You know you were meant for your own unique form of greatness. You know you can do more, have more, and be more. You know that you can be bigger than you currently are.
Robin Sharma

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If you want to be the best, you can't take the path of least resistance. Every morning, you wake up, and your mind tells you it's too early, and your body tells you you're a little too sore, but you've got to look deep within yourself and know what you want and what you're striving for.
Antonio Brown

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Early rising not only gives us more life in the same number of years, but adds, likewise, to their number; and not only enables us to enjoy more of existence in the same time, but increases also the measure.
Caleb C. Colton

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You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction.
George Lorimer

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He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.
Victor Hugo

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It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.
Aristotle

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Featured image credit: pchoui/ iStock

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About the Author
Joyce Chen
Joyce Chen is a writer, editor, and community builder based in Seattle, Washington.
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