Training Hard
If you are like me then you consume a lot of content about self-improvement, fitness and the philosophy around these things. You’ve also probably then heard the quote by Seneca “we treat the body rigorously, so it is not disobedient to the mind”. I love this quote. It gives a far more masculine and attractive air to philosophy and thinking if the philosopher was also fit and strong. Philosophy and anything intellectual I think is ruined by the fact that our image of the philosopher is a scrawny geek in a turtleneck. This is a modern invention, historically some of the greatest thinkers have been athletes as well. Today I want to talk about someone who isn’t so much a philosopher, but also a former President: Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States, from 1901 to 1909. He was a top student at Harvard University and later a law student at Cambridge. He wrote a book during his time at college, but ultimately wanted to enter politics. First entering the New York State Assembly in a crusade against corruption. He was devastated with loss during this time, with first his father, then his wife, just after giving birth to a daughter and his mother back-to-back. Despite all this he pushed on. Following all this, he bought a ranch in North Dakota, ran, and lost the mayoral race, wrote a book, became the New York police commissioner and eventually on to the presidency.
That is a very quick run through of Roosevelts adult life. It is inspiring for someone to go through such hardship, but also to go through such strides within their career. He was able to keep a steady mind and keep working hard. I think this is because he treated his body rigorously, as Seneca said.
Roosevelt was a very sickly and weak child. Consistently having Asthma attacks and unable live like a normal boy. He says that he was always being taken away to try and cure his breathing. It wasn’t until when he was 13 that his father pushed him to strengthen his body in a last-ditch effort to get some vigor and life into him. He said to his son “Theodore, you have the mind, but you have not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body.” This echo’s Seneca’s words almost perfectly. The idea that you make your body and that your mind is constrained by the strength of your body is just right.
He very quickly takes this on and starts training hard. He boxes, lifts weight, rows and does gymnastics. He works hard. His asthma subsided and his life became more bearable. It meant he could put the vigor into his studies and into other aspects of his life. This is something he kept up for the rest of his life.
The lessons he learnt from training hard were those of hard work. He built character from his strenuous life. His success came from not shrinking from hardship and toil. The lessons he learnt by training got him through all that pain and struggle. I believe training hard is what propelled him to become the youngest US President, to write more than 30 and to bear the death of a wife, mother and father in a short time.
What we learn from Roosevelt is that it doesn’t matter how you start out in life, that adopting the “Doctrine of the Strenuous Life”, is very good path to success.
