The Anatomy of Melancholy

Member 4 Exercise of body and mind regulated

The great harm caused on one side by excessive or ill-timed exercise, and on the other by too much solitude and idleness, must be countered with an antidote: moderate exercise at suitable times, of both body and mind. This is a most important consideration, contributing greatly to the cure and to the general preservation of our health. The heavens themselves revolve continually; the sun rises and sets; the moon waxes and wanes; stars and planets maintain their constant motions; the air is always stirred by winds; waters ebb and flow, no doubt for their preservation, teaching us that we should always be active.

For this reason Jerome instructs Rusticus the monk to be occupied with some task or other at all times, so that the devil does not find him idle. Seneca would have a person do something, even to no purpose. Xenophon would rather have someone play backgammon or dice, or make a fool of himself, though he could be much better employed, than do nothing.

The ancient Egyptians, and many flourishing states since, have required people of every kind to work and exercise, to follow some occupation or calling, and to account for their time, in order to prevent the grievous evils caused by idleness. “For as fodder, whip, and load belong to the donkey, so food, discipline, and work belong to the servant”: Ecclesiasticus 33:23. The Turks require everyone, whatever their rank, to practise some trade; even the sultan himself is not exempt.

“Within living memory,” says Sabellicus, “Mehmed the Turk, who conquered Greece, would carve or cut wooden spoons, or fashion something on a table, at the very time he was hearing the ambassadors of other princes.” The present sultan makes notches for bows. The Jews are most rigorous in this scrutiny of how time is spent. All well-governed places, towns, and households observe such discipline, and every sensible person will be a law to himself.

But among us the badge of gentility is idleness: to have no calling, to do no work, since that would demean their birth; to be a mere spectator, a drone, “born to consume the fruits of the earth”; to have no necessary employment in Church or state, apart from a few who govern, but merely to get up and eat, and so forth. Spending their days in hawking, hunting, and similar sports and recreations, which our writers on cases of conscience condemn, is almost the sole exercise and ordinary occupation of our nobility, and they pursue it far too immoderately.

Hence it happens that, in city and country, so many afflictions of body and mind, and this deadly disease of melancholy, rage so frequently; melancholy now holds sway among the great almost throughout Europe. They do not know how to spend their time, except in sports, which are their whole business; what to do, or how else to occupy themselves. They resemble the Frenchmen of our own day, who would rather lose a pound of blood in a duel than a drop of sweat in honest work.