A Mark Twain Diary Entry Discussing His Fitness and Health

mark twain quote about fitnessApril 7, 1905
Hartford, Connecticut

There is nothing so wearisome to the human spirit as the ceaseless harping of doctors upon the subject of health. They are forever instructing a man to eat this and avoid that, to exercise this limb and not the other, until the business of living is reduced to a dull arithmetic of dos and don’ts. I have always held the belief that good health is best maintained in the same manner as good humor—with a certain lack of solemnity.

To begin with, I am often asked how I keep myself in such admirable shape, and to this I reply that I have done so chiefly by avoiding those things which do a man the most harm—namely, hard work, excessive sobriety, and the society of dull persons.


As to diet, I have found it prudent never to be too particular. I eat what pleases me, and when it pleases me. A man who waits upon the advice of science before he takes his meals will be a long time waiting, and a leaner man for it. Beefsteak, cornbread, and butter have sustained my constitution for many years, and I have found no great need to meddle with their arrangement. A fine cigar after dinner is as necessary as the meal itself, for digestion is the noblest of bodily functions and ought to be attended to with dignity and leisure.

I have also observed that pie is a most excellent medicine, taken in moderate doses. I have partaken of it at all hours and found it a tonic both for the body and the spirit. Apple pie is best, but one should not turn away from a good huckleberry or pumpkin when occasion demands. The doctors, those somber preachers of dietary misery, will tell you that such things are ruinous to a man’s health. I have outlived many such doctors.

For exercise, I do not hold with the idea that a man must sweat and toil like a dray horse merely to keep his frame in order. Walking to the billiard hall is sufficient, and the occasional lifting of a book from the shelf provides ample strength for the arms.

In the end, good health is a simple matter. Eat what you like, laugh often, and avoid undue exertion. The world will provide enough strain without a man inventing more for himself. And above all, keep a keen appetite—not just for food, but for life itself. That is the only regimen worth following.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *