IS TO RELAX THE MIND. YOU
SHOULD THEREFORE NOT PERMIT YOURSELF TO EVEN THINK WHILE YOU WALK; BUT
DIVERT YOURSELF BY THE OBJECTS SURROUNDING YOU. WALKING IS THE BEST POSSIBLE
EXERCISE. HABITUATE YOURSELF TO WALK VERY FAR. THE EUROPEANS VALUE
THEMSELVES ON HAVING SUBDUED THE HORSE TO THE USES OF MAN; BUT I DOUBT
WHETHER WE HAVE NOT LOST MORE THAN WE HAVE GAINED, BY THE USE OF THIS
ANIMAL. NO ONE HAS OCCASIONED SO MUCH THE DEGENERACY OF THE HUMAN BODY. AN
INDIAN GOES ON FOOT NEARLY AS FAR IN A DAY, FOR A LONG JOURNEY, AS AN
ENFEEBLED WHITE DOES ON HIS HORSE; AND HE WILL TIRE THE BEST HORSES. THERE
IS NO HABIT YOU WILL VALUE SO MUCH AS THAT OF WALKING WITHOUT FATIGUE.
-THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1785
Provocateur