--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we could sleep twenty-four hours a…" description: "\"“If we could sleep twenty-four hours a day, we would soon return to the primordial slime, the beatitude of that perfect torpor before Genesis-the dream..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/emil-cioran-523_primordial_if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-da_2968186.jpg" --- # If we could sleep twenty-four hours a day, we would soon… ![“If we could sleep twenty-four hours a day, we would soon return to the primordial slime, the beatitude of that perfect torpor before Genesis-the dream of every consciousness sick of itself.” quote by Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/emil-cioran-523_primordial_if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-da_2968186.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/emil-cioran-523_primordial_if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-da_2968186.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/emil-cioran-523_primordial_if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-da_2968186.jpg) > ““If we could sleep twenty-four hours a day, we would soon return to the primordial slime, the beatitude of that perfect torpor before Genesis-the dream of every consciousness sick of itself.”” [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If we could sleep forever, we would revert to a primal, blissful state, escaping conscious suffering. **In simple terms:** Endless sleep returns to primal bliss. Key Takeaway Consider the limits of consciousness. Themes existential sleep bliss Mood melancholic poetic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - meditation - life‑extension - mental health - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does “primordial slime” symbolize? - How do we find meaning without escape? A Different Perspective Sleep is unattainable; consciousness is inevitable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consciousness Sick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness-sick-3874563/) [Genesis Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genesis-dream-4555837/) [Perfect Torpor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect-torpor-4555838/) [Primordial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primordial/) [Primordial Slime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primordial-slime-4555836/) ## Related quotes > [Meditation simply means a discipline that makes you capable of being aloof and detached from your mind. So even if the mind is sick,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/meditation-simply-means-a-discipline-that-makes-you-capable-of-being/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Evolutionists don't step in mud. They just wallow in self imagined primordial slime that no self respecting potter would ever fashion into clay.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-coutts/evolutionists-don-t-step-in-mud-they-just-wallow-in-self-imagined/) [David Coutts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-coutts/) > [Deep down, there is in the substance of the cosmos a primordial disposition, sui generis, for self-arrangement and self-involution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/deep-down-there-is-in-the-substance-of-the-cosmos-a-primordial/) [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) > [“The most important, the primordial relationship in your life is your relationship with the Now, or rather with whatever form the Now takes, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-most-important-the-primordial-relationship-in-your-life-is-your/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“When good things happen, we bake them very quickly into our baseline expectations, and yet the primordial void goes unfilled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harris/when-good-things-happen-we-bake-them-very-quickly-into-our-baseline/) [Dan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harris/) > [We seem to have lost our contact with the primordial: the idea of - call it divine revelation as opposed to something that's learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tavener/we-seem-to-have-lost-our-contact-with-the-primordial-the-idea-of-call/) [John Tavener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tavener/) > [Pheromones are Earth's primordial idiom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/pheromones-are-earth-s-primordial-idiom/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [“He had been suddenly jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/he-had-been-suddenly-jerked-from-the-heart-of-civilization-and-flung/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [What recipe was used for the primordial soup?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/what-recipe-was-used-for-the-primordial-soup/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [Some of the hydrogen in your body comes from the Big Bang, and when you see a kid walking down the street with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-bell-burnell/some-of-the-hydrogen-in-your-body-comes-from-the-big-bang-and-when/) [Jocelyn Bell Burnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-bell-burnell/) > [“Blood will separate, if need be, but its call is primordial, and it won't be refused.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/blood-will-separate-if-need-be-but-its-call-is-primordial-and-it-won/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [I have written a lot about snakes. There's something pretty primordial about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-anderson/i-have-written-a-lot-about-snakes-there-s-something-pretty-primordial/) [Laurie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-anderson/) > [More primordial than any idea, beauty will be manifest as the herald and generator or ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/more-primordial-than-any-idea-beauty-will-be-manifest-as-the-herald/) [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) > [We, all of us, are what happens when a primordial mixture of hydrogen and helium evolves for so long that it begins to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-tarter/we-all-of-us-are-what-happens-when-a-primordial-mixture-of-hydrogen/) [Jill Tarter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-tarter/) > [It is the heart that sees the primordial eternity of every creature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-vaughan-lee/it-is-the-heart-that-sees-the-primordial-eternity-of-every-creature/) [Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-vaughan-lee/) ## More by Emil Cioran > [“Eu nu am idei ci obsesii. Idei poate avea oricine. Nimeni nu s-a prăbușit din cauza ideilor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/eu-nu-am-idei-ci-obsesii-idei-poate-avea-oricine-nimeni-nu-s-a-pr-bu/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“For a long while I have lived with the notion that I was the most normal being that ever existed. This notion gave me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/for-a-long-while-i-have-lived-with-the-notion-that-i-was-the-most/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“Natura s-a arătat darnică numai cu cei pe care i-a scutit de obsesia morţii. Dacă-i firesc să mori, nu-i deloc firesc să zaboveşti asupra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/natura-s-a-ar-tat-darnic-numai-cu-cei-pe-care-i-a-scutit-de-obsesia/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“Having always lived in fear of being surprised by the worst, I have tried in every circumstance to get a head start, flinging myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/having-always-lived-in-fear-of-being-surprised-by-the-worst-i-have/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“I would like to be free, totaly free... free like an aborted child.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-would-like-to-be-free-totaly-free-free-like-an-aborted-child/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“We had nothing to say to one another, and while I was manufacturing my phrases I felt that earth was falling through space and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/we-had-nothing-to-say-to-one-another-and-while-i-was-manufacturing-my/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“It is no sign of benediction to have been obsessed with the lives of saints, for it is an obsession intertwined with a taste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/it-is-no-sign-of-benediction-to-have-been-obsessed-with-the-lives-of/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“His power to adore is responsible for all his crimes: a man who loves a god unduly forces other men to love his god,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/his-power-to-adore-is-responsible-for-all-his-crimes-a-man-who-loves/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“Tell me how you want to die, and I’ll tell you who you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/tell-me-how-you-want-to-die-and-i-ll-tell-you-who-you-are/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [One should live and die where one was born... I've been bored everywhere I went. What was the point of leaving Coasta Boacu?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/one-should-live-and-die-where-one-was-born-i-ve-been-bored-everywhere/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“I cannot imagine that there could be someone whose childhood could compare to mine. The sky and the earth belonged to me, literally, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-cannot-imagine-that-there-could-be-someone-whose-childhood-could/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“A fi sau a nu fi? Nici una nici alta.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/a-fi-sau-a-nu-fi-nici-una-nici-alta/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“Dispretul oamenilor ma intareste, si nu le cer decat o favoare - sa nu insemn nimic in ochii lor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/dispretul-oamenilor-ma-intareste-si-nu-le-cer-decat-o-favoare-sa-nu/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“Nobody would dare look at himself in the mirror, because a grotesque, tragic image would mix in the contours of his face with stains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/nobody-would-dare-look-at-himself-in-the-mirror-because-a-grotesque/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“Since it is difficult to approve the reasons people invoke, each time we leave one of our 'fellow men', the question which comes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/since-it-is-difficult-to-approve-the-reasons-people-invoke-each-time/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) [Explore all 260 Emil Cioran quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) ## More Primordial quotes > [It is the heart that sees the primordial eternity of every creature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-vaughan-lee/it-is-the-heart-that-sees-the-primordial-eternity-of-every-creature/) [Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-vaughan-lee/) > [We, all of us, are what happens when a primordial mixture of hydrogen and helium evolves for so long that it begins to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-tarter/we-all-of-us-are-what-happens-when-a-primordial-mixture-of-hydrogen/) [Jill Tarter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-tarter/) > [More primordial than any idea, beauty will be manifest as the herald and generator or ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/more-primordial-than-any-idea-beauty-will-be-manifest-as-the-herald/) [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) > [I have written a lot about snakes. There's something pretty primordial about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-anderson/i-have-written-a-lot-about-snakes-there-s-something-pretty-primordial/) [Laurie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-anderson/) > [“Blood will separate, if need be, but its call is primordial, and it won't be refused.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/blood-will-separate-if-need-be-but-its-call-is-primordial-and-it-won/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [Some of the hydrogen in your body comes from the Big Bang, and when you see a kid walking down the street with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-bell-burnell/some-of-the-hydrogen-in-your-body-comes-from-the-big-bang-and-when/) [Jocelyn Bell Burnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-bell-burnell/) > [What recipe was used for the primordial soup?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/what-recipe-was-used-for-the-primordial-soup/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [“He had been suddenly jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/he-had-been-suddenly-jerked-from-the-heart-of-civilization-and-flung/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Pheromones are Earth's primordial idiom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/pheromones-are-earth-s-primordial-idiom/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [We seem to have lost our contact with the primordial: the idea of - call it divine revelation as opposed to something that's learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tavener/we-seem-to-have-lost-our-contact-with-the-primordial-the-idea-of-call/) [John Tavener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tavener/) > [“When good things happen, we bake them very quickly into our baseline expectations, and yet the primordial void goes unfilled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harris/when-good-things-happen-we-bake-them-very-quickly-into-our-baseline/) [Dan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harris/) > [“The most important, the primordial relationship in your life is your relationship with the Now, or rather with whatever form the Now takes, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-most-important-the-primordial-relationship-in-your-life-is-your/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Deep down, there is in the substance of the cosmos a primordial disposition, sui generis, for self-arrangement and self-involution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/deep-down-there-is-in-the-substance-of-the-cosmos-a-primordial/) [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) > [“The time and moment of Ancient and Medieval is gone, a new change is sought from within by the lifeforce a moment that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maitreya-rudrabhayananda/the-time-and-moment-of-ancient-and-medieval-is-gone-a-new-change-is/) [Maitreya Rudrabhayananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maitreya-rudrabhayananda/) > [“The dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/the-dominant-primordial-beast-was-strong-in-buck/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) [Browse all 22 Primordial quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primordial/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If we could sleep twenty-four hours a day, we would soon return to the primordial slime, the beatitude of that perfect torpor before Genesis-the dream of every consciousness sick of itself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emil Cioran" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-day-we-would-soon-return-to-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Primordial" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-day-we-would-soon-return-to-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/emil-cioran-523_primordial_if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-da_2968186.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/emil-cioran-523_primordial_if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-da_2968186.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/emil-cioran-523_primordial_if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-da_2968186.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we could sleep twenty-four hours a day, we would soon return to the primordial slime, the beatitude of…” — Emil Cioran", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Emil Cioran", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If we could sleep twenty-four hours...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-day-we-would-soon-return-to-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/if-we-could-sleep-twenty-four-hours-a-day-we-would-soon-return-to-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```