"Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind."
— Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826)
Work Title
Place of Publication
Paris
Date
1785
Metaphor
"Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind."
Metaphor in Context
Paris, August 19, 1785. To Peter Carr.
[advice to a young man--probably just beginning college at William and Mary--on how to conduct himself morally and ethically, what to learn and read, and what other good habits to develop.]
"Give about two of them [hours] every day to exercise; for health must not be sacrificed to learning. ... Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind. ... Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. The Europeans value themselves on having subdued the horse to the uses of man; but I doubt whether we have not lost more than we have gained, by the use of this animal. No one has occasioned so much the degeneracy of the human body.
[advice to a young man--probably just beginning college at William and Mary--on how to conduct himself morally and ethically, what to learn and read, and what other good habits to develop.]
"Give about two of them [hours] every day to exercise; for health must not be sacrificed to learning. ... Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind. ... Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. The Europeans value themselves on having subdued the horse to the uses of man; but I doubt whether we have not lost more than we have gained, by the use of this animal. No one has occasioned so much the degeneracy of the human body.
Categories
Provenance
C18 Listserv: Joel S. Berson (3/16/2005)
Citation
Jefferson, Thomas. Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Volume I. 2nd Ed. Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1830. pp 287 and 346-7.
Date of Entry
03/17/2005
Date of Review
01/20/2009
