Do not shorten the morning by getting up late; look upon it as the quintessence of life, as to a certain extent sacred.

Schopenhauer treats the early morning as a privileged interval for thought and inner life. The admonition not to “shorten” it by sleeping late frames time as a finite resource whose best portion is easily squandered. Calling morning the “quintessence of life” suggests that clarity, quiet, and mental freshness are most available then, before social demands and distractions intrude. The quasi-religious language (“to a certain extent sacred”) elevates a practical habit into an ethical-aesthetic stance: to honor one’s capacity for reflection and intellectual work. The quote thus aligns with Schopenhauer’s broader valuation of solitude and contemplative discipline as conditions for serious thinking.