there's plenty of literature about ailments,misery, mental imbalance and such and i thought it'd be nice to start a thread about vigor, physical health and mental clarity.
the best example i can think of is levin, an aristocrat, rolling up his sleeves and working up a sweat in lev tolstoy's anna karenin. i think this passage should be required reading for every stay-at-home, hypochondriac and cry baby who refuses to grow up.
tolstoy knew that it was only a matter of time ere the gross excesses of art, culture and civilization would render the state a corrupt, self-serving entity destined to collapse like a house of cards. he set an example to prevent this but alas to no avail.