[Ads-l] Proverb Origin: You Cannot Awaken Someone Who Is Pretending To Sleep

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

I recently received two requests to trace the saying in the subject
line. Mahatma Gandhi employed a version in 1928 within a chapter of
his autobiography which was serialized in English in "The Indian
Review", but he was not the originator. U.S. literary figure Jonathan
Safran Foer used a version in his book eating animals in 2009.

The statement has been labeled a Yoruba Proverb, an Oromo Proverb, a
Navajo proverb, a Somalian saying, and more.

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/10/29/pretend-sleep/

Research has been difficult because the proverb can be expressed in
many ways. Here is an overview showing selected published items
together with dates and attributions. Some items are partial matches:

1871: Difficult to awaken people who will close their eyes and
determine to sleep on (Unnamed journalist in "The Family Herald" of
London)

1888: It is, therefore, mere waste of energy to awaken one, who is
wide-awake, but only feigns sleep (Unnamed journalist in "Amrita Bazar
Patrika" of Calcutta, India)

1910: To awaken a sleeper is easy, but the heedless is like one dead
(English translation from "The Walled Garden of Truth" by Hakim Sanai)

1928: You can wake a man only if he is really asleep; no effort that
you may make will produce any effect upon him if he is merely
pretending sleep (Mohandas Gandhi in his autobiography)

1932: You can awake one who is really asleep but you cannot awake one
who pretends to sleep (B. N. Misra in the Legislative Assembly of
India)

1953: People who are sleeping can be awakened but people who are awake
and who pretend to be sleeping cannot be awakened (T. S. A. Chettiar
in Lok Sabha Debates, India)

1966: You can wake up a sleeping man, but you cannot wake up those who
are already awake (U. M. Trivedi in Lok Sabha Debates, India)

1972: It is easy to awaken a sleeping man but not one who pretends to
sleep (R. C. Majumdar in "The Calcutta Review")

1988: One wakes a sleeper; one does not wake a pretender (Yoruba Proverb)

1988: You can't wake a person who is pretending to sleep (Oromo Proverb)

1993: You cannot wake up a man who is pretending to be asleep (Saying
in Somalia)

1998: You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep
(Described as a Navajo proverb)

2009: It's always possible to wake someone from sleep, but no amount
of noise will wake someone who is pretending to be asleep (Jonathan
Safran Foer in "Eating Animals")

Interesting material and feedback would be welcome.
Garson

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