Final answer:
The quotation is from William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, highlighting Sir Toby Belch's humorous take on conventional concepts of time and classical beliefs about the fundamental components of life.
Step-by-step explanation:
The quote "A false conclusion. I hate it as an unfilled can. To be up after midnight and to go to bed then, is early, so that to go to bed after midnight is to go to bed betimes.
Does not our life consist of the four elements?" is from William Shakespeare's comedy play Twelfth Night. It is spoken by the character Sir Toby Belch in Act I, Scene III. The line humorously questions the conventional wisdom of what it means to go to bed "early" and reflects the topsy-turvy, festive world of the play, wherein normal rules of behavior are inverted. Additionally, the mention of the four elements references the classical idea that earth, water, fire, and air make up the fundamental components of life, a common belief in the Elizabethan era when Shakespeare was writing.