--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We in the West are the first generation…" description: "\"“We in the West are the first generation in human history in which the mass of the population has to deliberately exercise to be healthy. How can socie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/105/david-b-agus-10716_health_we-in-the-west-are-the-first-generation_1359918.jpg" --- # We in the West are the first generation in human history… ![“We in the West are the first generation in human history in which the mass of the population has to deliberately exercise to be healthy. How can society’s collective adaptations match?” quote by David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/105/david-b-agus-10716_health_we-in-the-west-are-the-first-generation_1359918.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/105/david-b-agus-10716_health_we-in-the-west-are-the-first-generation_1359918.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/105/david-b-agus-10716_health_we-in-the-west-are-the-first-generation_1359918.jpg) > ““We in the West are the first generation in human history in which the mass of the population has to deliberately exercise to be healthy. How can society’s collective adaptations match?”” [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern societies face a unique challenge: most people must now exercise deliberately to stay healthy, and social systems must adapt accordingly. **In simple terms:** People now need to work out to stay healthy, and society must keep up. Key Takeaway Encourage policies that support active lifestyles. Themes health society exercise policy technology Mood concerned optimistic Type analytical prescriptive When to use this quote - workplace wellness programs - city planning for active transport - school physical education reforms Key Concepts public health behavioral economics urban design Questions to Reflect On - How can governments incentivize regular exercise for all citizens? - What barriers prevent people from exercising regularly? A Different Perspective Implementation may be uneven across regions and socioeconomic groups. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exercise Healthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise-healthy-2147852/) [Generation Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation-human-363634/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Healthy society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healthy-society/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Population Deliberately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population-deliberately-4650954/) [West Generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/west-generation-4650953/) ## Related quotes > [I don't exercise to be healthy, I exercise to be sexy as fuck both dressed and undressed :3 love that work out every morning ^-^](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crystal/i-don-t-exercise-to-be-healthy-i-exercise-to-be-sexy-as-fuck-both/) [Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crystal/) > [I am not a slim person, so I regularly exercise to be healthy mentally and physically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-shin-hye/i-am-not-a-slim-person-so-i-regularly-exercise-to-be-healthy-mentally/) [Park Shin-hye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-shin-hye/) > [ The fountain of youth \[for me\], let’s see…I guess it’s exercise, healthy diet, lots of water, lots of laughter, lots of sex—yes, sex, we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-diaz/the-fountain-of-youth-for-me-let-s-see-i-guess-it-s-exercise-healthy/) [Cameron Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-diaz/) > [And I believe that the best buy in public health today must be a combination of regular physical exercise and a healthy diet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-bishop/and-i-believe-that-the-best-buy-in-public-health-today-must-be-a/) [Julie Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-bishop/) > [If your aim is to give practical, sensible advice about losing weight - and not how to drop a stone in five days -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-swinson/if-your-aim-is-to-give-practical-sensible-advice-about-losing-weight/) [Jo Swinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-swinson/) > [Through every generation of the human race there has been a constant war, a war with fear. Those who have the courage to conquer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/through-every-generation-of-the-human-race-there-has-been-a-constant/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jones/the-greatest-discovery-of-my-generation-is-that-a-human-being-can-2/) [William Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jones/) > [The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-greatest-discovery-of-any-generation-is-that-a-human-being-can/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I think, and I've thought this for a long time, that we live, roughly speaking, in the last generation of human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitfield-diffie/i-think-and-i-ve-thought-this-for-a-long-time-that-we-live-roughly/) [Whitfield Diffie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitfield-diffie/) > [The greatest discovery of my generation is that human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of his mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-greatest-discovery-of-my-generation-is-that-human-being-can-alter/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can change his life by changing his attitude of mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-greatest-discovery-of-my-generation-is-that-a-human-being-can/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are the first generation of human beings to have substantial insights into the origin of our cosmos and of human life in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-peacocke/we-are-the-first-generation-of-human-beings-to-have-substantial/) [Arthur Peacocke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-peacocke/) > [“The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-greatest-discovery-of-any-generation-is-that-a-human-can-alter/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“The greatest discovery of any generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering the attitudes of their minds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/the-greatest-discovery-of-any-generation-is-that-human-beings-can/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-iacocca/the-greatest-discovery-of-my-generation-is-that-human-beings-can/) [Lee Iacocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-iacocca/) ## More by David B. Agus > [“one must first know the rules to break them,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/one-must-first-know-the-rules-to-break-them/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“I highly recommend Pollan’s book In Defense of Food”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/i-highly-recommend-pollan-s-book-in-defense-of-food/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“cancer is as old as the human race and has been documented since ancient history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/cancer-is-as-old-as-the-human-race-and-has-been-documented-since/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“Children of parents who reported having a rule about bedtime scored about 6 percentage points higher on an assessment of their vocabulary compared with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/children-of-parents-who-reported-having-a-rule-about-bedtime-scored/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“we are ranked thirty-seventh in overall health-system performance by the World Health Organization,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/we-are-ranked-thirty-seventh-in-overall-health-system-performance-by/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“the 1997 movie Gattaca”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/the-1997-movie-gattaca/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“What NFL Football Players and Nuns Can Teach Us about Deadly Inflammation—and How to Control It”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/what-nfl-football-players-and-nuns-can-teach-us-about-deadly/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“Ten or twenty years from now, a droplet of blood may be all that your doctor needs to catch a fomenting illness, even cancer,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/ten-or-twenty-years-from-now-a-droplet-of-blood-may-be-all-that-your/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“All nature is concerned with is that you can maintain your system in a way that will support future life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/all-nature-is-concerned-with-is-that-you-can-maintain-your-system-in/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“a 2010 study of Swedish women revealed that those who took multivitamins were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/a-2010-study-of-swedish-women-revealed-that-those-who-took/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“Think of the body as a self-maintaining factory; it is constantly regenerating itself down to every cell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/think-of-the-body-as-a-self-maintaining-factory-it-is-constantly/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“Instead of saying, “You know, my house has water,” we say, “My plumbing is leaking.” Instead of saying, “Somebody has cancer,” we should say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/instead-of-saying-you-know-my-house-has-water-we-say-my-plumbing-is/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“DNA governs probabilities more than it dictates destinies,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/dna-governs-probabilities-more-than-it-dictates-destinies/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“People can get well for any number of reasons, none of which may be due to any prescribed treatment or “elixir.” Indeed, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/people-can-get-well-for-any-number-of-reasons-none-of-which-may-be/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) > [“Without your health, you have nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-agus/without-your-health-you-have-nothing/) [David B. Agus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) [Explore all 64 David B. Agus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-agus/) ## More Health quotes > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Water is life, and clean water means health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/water-is-life-and-clean-water-means-health/) [Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/) > [Advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. 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It ignores the health needs of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ensign/it-is-irresponsible-to-set-an-arbitrary-cap-on-how-much-therapy-a/) [John Ensign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ensign/) > [The vast majority of organizations today have more than enough intelligence, experience and knowledge to be successful. What they lack is organizational health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-lencioni/the-vast-majority-of-organizations-today-have-more-than-enough/) [Patrick Lencioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-lencioni/) > [Leaders need to compromise, negotiate with members of both parties and ideologies, and reform health care the right way - by developing a strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-boustany/leaders-need-to-compromise-negotiate-with-members-of-both-parties-and/) [Charles Boustany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-boustany/) > [I listen to my body, I give it things it wants and I eliminate things it doesn't want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britt-ekland/i-listen-to-my-body-i-give-it-things-it-wants-and-i-eliminate-things/) [Britt Ekland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britt-ekland/) > [As an adventurer...I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. In the end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/as-an-adventurer-i-try-to-protect-against-the-downside-i-make-sure-i/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [Mental health is an issue close to my heart - an issue, indeed, I've covered repeatedly for Channel 4 News.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-newman/mental-health-is-an-issue-close-to-my-heart-an-issue-indeed-i-ve/) [Cathy Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-newman/) > [If you’re going to die on screen, you’ve got to be strong and in good health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-garbo/if-you-re-going-to-die-on-screen-you-ve-got-to-be-strong-and-in-good/) [Greta Garbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-garbo/) > [Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/every-patient-carries-her-or-his-own-doctor-inside/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Making sure that people have access to preventive medicine for the first time ever as a nation? 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