A sound mind in a sound body. This is a famous proverb, and I thought it meant that only a healthy mind can lead to a healthy body, or equally that only a healthy body can sustain a healthy mind. But I was wrong. I misunderstood the meaning of this proverb. From what I’ve read, this is a part of a poem written by a Roman poet, Decimus Junius Juvenalis. In his poem, he wanted to say “You ought to pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body, and do not ask Got more than that.” Juvenalis’s intention was “don’t wish for too much”.
To explain his message, I’ve found an interesting quote by a man, Tomokazu Hanafusa, which was originally written in Japanese. I translated it in English, and it goes like this.
People ask God for all the wrong things. For example, they want to be rich, to have a longer life, or to become beautiful. However, these things are difficult to obtain, and when people get them, they never bring happiness to the people. Imagine if you become rich, you have to worry about thieves. If you have a longer life, you cannot enjoy your life in your later years with your senile dementia. Even if you become beautiful, you might suffer from immoral relationships. So when you make a wish to God, ask just a little wish, like “a sound mind in a sound body”, not more than that. You can achieve this level of wish by yourself, and above all, being healthy in mind and body will not make you unhappy. Never make a bigger wish than this.
人間は間違ったことばかりを神様にお願いしている。
例えば金持ちになること、例えば長生き、例えば美貌びぼう。
しかし、これらはなかなか手に入りにくいだけでなく、手に入ったところで決して持ち主を幸福にはしない。
金持ちになっても泥棒の心配が増えるだけ。長生きしても、もうろくした人生にいいことはない。美人になっても不倫に陥おちいって苦しむだけだ。
「心身ともに健康であること」。願うならこの程度にしておきなさい。
これなら誰でも自分の力で達成できるし、それが手に入ったことによって不幸になることもない。しかし、決してそれ以上の大きな願いを抱いてはいけない。
出典 花房友一訳『第10歌 願い事はほどほどに』※「世界の古典つまみ食い」掲載
These days the phrase, a sound mind in a sound body, has a different meaning from its original. The phrase is used as a slogan by the sportwear company, Asics. Their sales campaign is “a sound mind in a sound body”. They say they want to support young people’s growth through sport. Their intention is clear. To have a healthy mind, do sports putting on their wears to have a healthy body. The original phrase was born in the Roman era, and has changed its meaning as time goes along.