Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care,
The death of each day’s life, sole labour’s bath,
Balm of hurt minds, Great nature’s second course,
Chief nourisher in life’s feast.” (Macbeth act 2, sc. 2)
Tips for use. An addition and/or an alternative to the answer, “I just need some sleep…the innocent sleep…feast.” Also a good ending to a presentation, e.g. “I will now deliver you to the sleep that knits the ravell’d sleeve of care, unless I delivered you already…”
That sleep be a universal health-care remedy is usually recognized, but only if we think about it. And it has the additional and extraordinary advantage of being free. Which may not necessarily be a good thing from the point of view of the economy and the medical-pharmaceutical-insurance industry. From this perspective sleep should only be possible via the means of a (possibly expensive) drug. In truth an efficient capitalistic society would abolish sleep. After all sleep prevents us from producing, consuming, spending and contributing to the growth of the economy. I hold a different opinion – abolish sleep and we destroy the only few hours man lives above reproach.
With his multiple references to sleep, Shakespeare proves to a believer in natural medicine, rather than a believer in the department of witchcraft called medical science – the latter a view espoused by George Bernard Shaw.
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In the play. Macbeth begins to feel remorse after killing King Duncan. King Duncan was asleep after a momentous day and an excellent dinner at Macbeth’s castle in Elsinore.
Image Source: http://gawker.com/5713630/beauty-sleep-is-real