It Need Not Be

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 31, 1910

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 21.

ONE publishing company states that three million years of life are wasted every year in the United States through serious illness, half of which is preventable; that the average cost of ill health to each family per year is $57.00, half of which is unnecessary; and that the average loss of time to each individual through serious illness—minor ailments are not included—is thirteen days, half of which can be saved.

These statements are preliminary to the sale of a set of medical books; and yet there are simple laws which every one might observe that would save doctors’ bills, prevent serious illness, and save time. Plenty of exercise, deep breathing of pure air, and abundant drinking of pure water at proper times, normal, easy clothing, and a clear conscience, are the desiderata preliminary to good health.

The curse of the world lies in intemperance. The use of alcohol in its various forms, of tobacco and kindred intoxicants and narcotics, the overindulgence in eating, and in the eating of unwholesome articles, the wearing of improper dress, and the lack of pure air and sunshine, do more to keep people sick than all other things combined.