"Sleep is for the weak." - Croyd Crenson, aka "The Sleeper", "Typhoid Croyd", Wild Cards novels

This was a line said by a character with a very unique set of problems that made him afraid to sleep... and for good reason, as well.

Each time the guy slept, anywhere from a few weeks to a few years of his life would vanish as he 'hibernated'. When he awoke, along with being fully healed of any previous damage he'd taken, he would have a different set of powers and a different (sometimes handsome, sometimes horrendous) face. But, beneath that was a horrific possibility that each time he slept, the alien virus that he'd caught along with most of the world would mutate into one of the most common strains, which was usually lethal... or worse. And some of the examples of how much worse it could be were terrifying to consider - somewhat disturbing, yet fascinating as well from a writer's viewpoint.

He got to the point where he'd start taking drugs - the kind that keep you awake for days on end. It began to show the consequences of such, including an inevitable travel down the metaphysical staircase to psychosis. Each time, either his occasional friends would help him get control again, or he'd just finally fall out from lack of sleep.

Once, when he awoke in the 80's, the virus had mutated into a brand new strain; a strain that could RE-infect those previously infected (or born with it in them), and consequently possibly kill them in those wonderfully gruesome ways I mentioned earlier. It would be like winning the Lottery from Caesar's Legion in Fallout: New Vegas and getting released... only to have to play it again later.

At first, he didn't even know what was going on; he had no clue he was a carrier. As things progressed, it began to dawn on him what was going on. He was genuinely appalled that he was causing so much death. Granted, he had a very checkered history with the law - theft and smuggling work while he was still rested, with things getting more and more out of control the more drugs he took to stay awake. He wasn't really a bad fellow, but he was extremely phobic of going to sleep and never waking again - and his judgement was affected by how desperately he was fighting Mr. Sandman.

When the truth came out abroad, there was panic in the streets of New York City as he kept getting worse and worse until he finally passed the hell out. This was the event where he earned the nickname "Typhoid Croyd", and he would have been in big trouble had his face not changed every time he slept.

... so you see, it's a primal fear of mortality mixed with a sort-of cobbled together morality. Croyd was a wonderful character to read about, no matter which of the Wild Cards novels he appears in.

And it was Croyd who was my first source for this particular motto.

As someone who has some rather difficult issues with sleep in general, this was something I began to utter as a way of stating that though I acknowledge that I require sleep, I will push myself beyond this point because I refuse to be weak. Yeah, I know it sounds a bit pompous, maybe... but I had to train myself to actually STOP discouraging me from things. You have to give yourself a bit of a pep talk sometimes, y'know?

Anyway, I always get a kick when I run across memes that have 'sleep is for the weak' on them; it always reminds me of Croyd Crenson, and helps me to realize that I just have to make it to my next successful attempt to drift off into Dreamland.

Now, if I could just remember not to take that left turn at Albuquerque...