The Sleep Teacher's Wisdom — Thus Spoke Zarathustra

People send Zarathustra to hear a famous wise man talk about sleep and virtue. The wise man says good sleep needs a careful day. You must overcome yourself ten times, find ten truths, laugh ten times, and make peace with yourself. He praises modesty, obeying the government, keeping a good name, and avoiding trouble. He even says you should honor crooked rulers if that helps you rest at night.

Young people sit at his feet and love this advice because it feels safe and clear. At night he reviews his ten overcomings and lets sleep steal over him like a thief. Zarathustra listens and laughs inside. He admits the man knows how to sleep well. But he sees the trap: this virtue is only a recipe for rest. It treats life as something to get through so you can sleep without dreams.

Zarathustra realizes crowds want teachers like this. They do not want hard growth. They want soft rules that calm them down. He calls them poppy-head virtues, like sleeping pills for the soul. When virtue is only about comfort, people become sleepwalkers who never face life's harder questions. The drowsy ones, he says, will soon nod off for good.