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hygiene from the child, one must take great care not to instil into him the fear of illness.
Fear is the worst instrument of education and the surest way of attracting what is feared.
Yet, while there should be no fear of illness, there should be no inclination for it either.
There is a prevalent belief that brilliant minds are found in weak bodies. This is a delusion
and has no basis. There was perhaps a time when a romantic and morbid taste for physical
unbalance prevailed; but, fortunately, that tendency has disappeared. Nowadays a well-
built, robust, muscular, strong and well-balanced body is appreciated at its true value. In
any case, children should be taught to respect health and admire the healthy man whose
vigorous body knows how to repel attacks of illness. Often a child feigns illness to avoid
some troublesome obligation, a work that does not interest him, or simply to soften his
parents hearts and get them to satisfy some caprice. The child must be taught as early as
possible that this does not work and that he does not become more interesting by being ill,
but rather the contrary. The weak have a tendency to believe that their weakness makes
them particularly interesting and to use this weakness and if necessary even illness as a
means of attracting the attention and sympathy of the people around them. On no account
should this pernicious tendency be encouraged. Children should therefore be taught that
to be ill is a sign of weakness and inferiority, not of some virtue or sacrifice.

That is why, as soon as the child is able to make use of his limbs, sometime should be
devoted every day to the methodical and regular development of all the parts of his body.
Every day some twenty or thirty minutes, preferably on waking, if possible, will be enough
to ensure the proper functioning and balanced growth of his muscles while preventing any
stiffening of the joints and of the spine, which occurs much sooner than one thinks. In the
general programme of the child’s education, sports and outdoor games should be given a

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