Proverbs give short and understandable advice about how we should live our lives. Sometimes two proverbs can be contradictory but also gives good advice. While the first quote (“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”) suggests a life that is calm, regular, and controlled, the second proverb (“Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die”) suggests a so called “YOLO”, you only live once, approach to life.
The first proverb, “Eat drink and be merry” comes from the Bible. The passage tells us that enjoyment of life is a critical part of life. Because we never will know when "the reaper" will come for us, one way to celebrate is to enjoy the pleasures of life. Life is made for enjoyment, and we must remember to appreciate what we have.
The second proverb (“Early to bed”) comes from Ben Franklin. He was a scientist, and a writer. All of these had to be done in the pre-industrial society. That is why he always had to get an early start in the day, and pack each day full of virtuous work. He preferred to give up short-term gratification in favor of longer-term goals. "Early to bed" means to plan ahead. The reason to go to bed early is because the person is thinking about the next day.
The difference between these two proverbs might be how one thinks their life will play out. If someone expects to live a long life, then it would make sense to plan ahead. Many people already do that. They work hard, advance in their careers, save for retirement, and ensure that they will live to be old and be comfortable through their lives. Sometimes that means giving up what they want short term, but the long-term benefits make it worthwhile. "Early to bed and early to rise" also makes sense for parents with children, for young professionals and for hard-working families trying to make ends meet. It also makes sense for college students trying to make a decent GPA. Under these circumstances, saving for retirement and being cautious with life might not make sense. If the future does not look promising, or if putting off gratification doesn't seem to make a difference, then why not throw caution to the wind?
Both proverbs seem to have a minor logic error in assigning cause and effect. The first proverb says "tomorrow we may die," as if life or death is something that might happen to us. Our choices can lead to an early death. The second proverb says that "Early to bed, early to rise" will "make a man ... wise". The wisdom is probably required to follow this proverb to begin with. It may be the case that wise people follow this advice, but the wisdom may have come before the actions.
Both proverbs have good advice. In fact, a mixture of the two may make the best lifestyle overall. Planning for the future is certainly a very good thing to do which will lead to more beneficial long-term decisions. On the other side of the argument, none of us knows what will happen in the future. No one should reach the end of their life with regrets about the things that they should have done, but never did.