Short Studies in Ethics: An Elementary Text-Book for Schools
John Stuart Mill · en
Exercise makes the body strong. Many a man has reason to bless the
memory of his father or teacher, who, when he was a weak boy, with
flabby muscles, and without energy or strength of will, made him take
regular exercise. A young man who was threatened by weak lungs was
ordered to take regular Exercise every day with clubs and dumb-bells and
a vigorous walk in the open air. After a few months' steady practice he
found that he could, with his hands, lift his elder brother, lying flat
on the ground, by the clothes and elevate him above his own head.
Neglect of Exercise keeps the muscles weak, makes the blood impure, and
renders the body liable to the diseases which are ever ready to attack
him. We now know that diseases enter the human body by means of minute
living germs, which float unseen in the atmosphere. Practically, no
people living in towns escape these germs; but the strong body is able
to throw them off, while the weak succumbs. There are in the blood
thousands of little bodies which act as scavengers, and are continually
fighting against foreign invaders that get into the system. If the body
becomes weak through lack of Exercise, the blood suffers, the number of
scavengers becomes lessened, and disease more easily fastens upon it.
Not only is the body weakened by lack of Exercise, but the brain is even
more so. If a stream of pure blood be necessary for the strength of the
body, it is far more necessary for the health of the brain. Parents
often complain that their sons are stupid, and are not able to see
through things, and have poor memories, when the trouble lies chiefly in
the fact that the blood is unable to carry off the worn-out elements of
the brain, because it is not kept pure by regular Exercise and fresh
air. The secret of mental activity is complete bodily health. The boy
who is subject to headaches cannot study hard; nine-tenths of the
headaches arise from giving the stomach too much hard work, and the
brain too little. The stomach is capable of an immense amount of labour
if the other members of the body will only work, too; but if they get
idle, it is apt to break down under its burdens, and then the brain
suffers.
The English race has always been characterized by immense energy.
Probably no other race has ever been so distinguished for enterprise and
energy. It is the energy of the race which has led to the growth of its
vast colonies, and to the maintenance of empire over less civilized
peoples. It has made the United States the great nation that it is.
Energy makes the man, as it makes the nation. The vast majority of
people depend for energy upon Exercise. Loafing destroys energy. Mental
energy depends very largely upon physical energy, except in the case of
the sick. Physical energy depends upon taut muscles and supple joints.