If you expect nothing, you’re apt to be surprised. You’ll get it.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.
—Samuel Butler
The healthy die first.
—Italian Proverb
Health is the thing that makes you feel that now is the best time of the year.
—Franklin P. Adams (1881–1960) American Columnist, Radio Personality, Author
Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The part can never be well unless the whole is well.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
Time And health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn’t much better than tedious disease.
—George D. Prentice (1802–70) American Journalist, Editor
The greatest wealth is health.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.
—Arabic Proverb
I know a lot of athletes and models are written off as just bodies. I never felt used for my body.
—Arnold Schwarzenegger (b.1947) Austrian-American Athlete, Actor, Politician
The health of nations is more important than the wealth of nations.
—William C. Durant (1861–1947) American Industrialist
Health, beauty, vigor, riches, and all the other things called goods, operate equally as evils to the vicious and unjust, as they do as benefits to the just.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
A sound mind in a sound body; if the former be the glory of the latter, the latter is indispensable to the former.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Life is not to live, but to be well.
—Martial (40–104) Ancient Roman Latin Poet
Happiness lies, first of all, in health.
—George William Curtis (1824–92) American Essayist, Public Speaker, Editor, Author
The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.
—Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) English Polymath, Philosopher, Sociologist, Political Theorist
In minds crammed with thoughts, organs clogged with toxins, and bodies stiffened with neglect, there is just no space for anything else.
—Alison Rose Levy
Since the human body tends to move in the direction of its expectations—plus or minus—it is important to know that attitudes of confidence and determination are no less a part of the treatment program than medical science and technology.
—Norman Cousins (1915–90) American Journalist, Author, Academic, Activist
The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d druther not.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
LIFE’S MIRROR
There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true,
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
Give love, and love to your life will flow,
A strength in your utmost need,
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.
Give truth, and your gift will be paid in kind;
And honor will honor meet;
And a smile that is sweet will surely find
A smile that is just as sweet.
Give pity and sorrow to those who mourn,
You will gather in flowers again
The scattered seeds from your thoughts outborne
Though the sowing seemed but vain.
For life is the mirror of king and slave,
‘Tis just what we are and do;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
—Mary Ainge de Vere (Madeline S. Bridges) (1844–1920) American Poet, Author
Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
If you are surprised at the number of maladies, count our cooks.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Water, air, and cleanliness are the chief articles in my pharmacopoeia.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Never hurry; take plenty of exercise; always be cheerful, and take all the sleep you need, and you may expect to be well.
—James Freeman Clarke (1810–88) American Unitarian Clergyman, Abolitionist, Author
After two days in the hospital, I turn to the nurse.
—W. C. Fields (1880–1946) American Actor, Comedian, Writer
Nothing is more fatal to health than an over care of it.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The only way to get 30 minutes’ uninterrupted rest in a hospital is to ring for a nurse.
—Common Proverb
We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Health is merely the slowest way someone can die.
—Unknown
We are usually the best men when in the worst health.
—English Proverb
My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-three today and we don’t know where the hell she is.
—Ellen DeGeneres (b.1958) American Comedian, Television Host
Disease makes men more physical; it leaves them with nothing but body.
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955) German Novelist, Short Story Writer, Social Critic, Philanthropist, Essayist
It is a wearisome disease to preserve health by too strict a regimen.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Health and cheerfulness naturally beget each other.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Sleep is a healing balm for every ill.
—Menander (c.343–c.291 BCE) Greek Comic Dramatist, Poet
A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–64) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
It’s not the work which kills people, it’s the worry. It’s not the revolution that destroys machinery it’s the friction.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Ill-health of body or of mind, is defeat. Health alone is victory. Let all men, if they can manage it, contrive to be healthy.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Preserving the health by too strict a regimen is a wearisome malady.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
The first sure symptoms of a mind in health are rest of heart and pleasure found at home.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
One of the most sublime experiences we can ever have is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick.
—Harold Kushner (b.1935) American Jewish Religious Leader, Priest
May you live as long as you are fit to live, but no longer! or, may you rather die before you cease to be fit to live than after.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Health of body and mind is a great blessing, if we can bear it.
—John Henry Newman (1801–90) British Theologian, Poet
Bad times, hard times-this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead.
—James Thurber
If you prepare for old age, old age comes sooner.
—Unknown
Nine-tenths of our sickness can be prevented by right thinking plus right hygiene—nine-tenths of it.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist