For poets, painters, writers and other creative spirits who have walked away, whether by necessity or design, his example is a powerful reminder that though dreams sleep, they need not be given up for dead.
"They boast about how little sleep they need and how long they work.
In the UK hedgehogs, bats and dormice fully hibernate, while further afield bears are famous for the very long winter sleeps they need.
Your help will allow them to take measures to get the sleep they need for better learning and a better life.
Nor is it fun to rely on doctors who are often not very sympathetic or knowledgeable about sleep, whose medical training is a hazing in sleep deprivation, and who often pride themselves on how little sleep they need.
Trying to understand why people vary in the amount of sleep they need led to a study of 37 healthy adults who carry a variant in their DNA that has already been linked with sleep disturbances.
"We tell them they're not going to do short-term damage and they'll be able to function the next day just fine if they don't get the sleep they need," Dr. Lewin said.
While it's true that sleep needs vary from one person to another, there are some very reasonable, science-based guidelines to help you determine whether children are getting the sleep they need to function at their best in school and at play and to get along well with friends and relations.
It's important to recognise that children differ in the amount of sleep they need, but a good place for parents to start is with the National Sleep Foundation's How Much Sleep Do We Really Need? for an idea of the developmental norms.
This is an active area of investigation and part of the federal government's "Healthy People 2020" goals — finding ways to help people get the sleep they need, or the sleep disorder treatment that works for them, and how this might improve health in the future.
