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About this quote

What does it mean?
Thought depends on physical health, yet those with the healthiest bodies are not always the best thinkers.
In plain terms
Your body affects your mind, but being healthy does not make you smart.
What can you take from it?
Physical health is necessary for thinking but does not guarantee intelligence.

Where it applies

  • health and education
  • fitness and learning
  • mental performance

Putting it to work

  • maintain health
  • don't equate health with smarts

Questions to consider

  • How does health impact cognition?
  • What makes a good thinker?

Another view

Intellectual capacity can vary independently of physical health.

More from Voltaire

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  2. Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer.

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  3. C'est une grande question parmi eux s'ils [les africains] sont descendus des singes ou si les singes sont venus d'eux. Nos sages ont dit que l'homme est l'imag…

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