--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a people, we have become obsessed with…" description: "\"As a people, we have become obsessed with Health. There is something fundamentally, radically unhealthy about all this. We do not seem to be seeking mo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23e/lewis-thomas-2299_body_as-a-people-we-have-become-obsessed-with_2439692.png" --- # As a people, we have become obsessed with Health. There is… ![“As a people, we have become obsessed with Health. There is something fundamentally, radically unhealthy about all this. We do not seem to be seeking more exuberance in living as much as staving off failure, putting off dying. We have lost all confidence in the human body.” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23e/lewis-thomas-2299_body_as-a-people-we-have-become-obsessed-with_2439692.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23e/lewis-thomas-2299_body_as-a-people-we-have-become-obsessed-with_2439692.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23e/lewis-thomas-2299_body_as-a-people-we-have-become-obsessed-with_2439692.png) > “As a people, we have become obsessed with Health. There is something fundamentally, radically unhealthy about all this. We do not seem to be seeking more exuberance in living as much as staving off failure, putting off dying. We have lost all confidence in the human body.” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society obsesses over health, fearing death, losing joy and bodily confidence. **In simple terms:** Health obsession steals joy and confidence. Key Takeaway Balance health with vitality. Themes health culture existential anxiety Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal wellness - public health policy - longevity research Key Concepts biomedical ethics humanism Questions to Reflect On - Why do we fear aging? - How can we reclaim bodily confidence? A Different Perspective May ignore legitimate health concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Exuberance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exuberance/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Health Fundamentally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health-fundamentally-476543/) [Human body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-body/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Obsessed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsessed/) [Obsessed Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsessed-health-476542/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Radically Unhealthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radically-unhealthy-476545/) [Unhealthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhealthy/) [Unhealthy Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhealthy-seeking-476544/) ## Related quotes > [“We are so used to eating unhealthy food that we deem obsessed with health people who watch what they eat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/we-are-so-used-to-eating-unhealthy-food-that-we-deem-obsessed-with/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [I've always been obsessed with health and fitness and hence been a firm believer that change needs to begin from the inside!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shibani-dandekar/i-ve-always-been-obsessed-with-health-and-fitness-and-hence-been-a/) [Shibani Dandekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shibani-dandekar/) > [When my husband turned 40, I was obsessed. 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It is in the wildness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-mcginley/the-saints-differ-from-us-in-their-exuberance-the-excess-of-our-human/) [Phyllis McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-mcginley/) > [Even when I was in the orphanage, when I was roaming the street trying to find enough to eat, even then I thought of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-chaplin/even-when-i-was-in-the-orphanage-when-i-was-roaming-the-street-trying/) [Charlie Chaplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-chaplin/) > [All progress in literary style lies in the heroic resolve to cast aside accretions and exuberances, all the conventions of a past age that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/all-progress-in-literary-style-lies-in-the-heroic-resolve-to-cast/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [“My cheeks are red hot, my lip still trembles, because I sent my heart to speak; every word of it delusional and awkward, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-walser/my-cheeks-are-red-hot-my-lip-still-trembles-because-i-sent-my-heart/) [Robert Walser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-walser/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. 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At our worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-do-not-agree-with-this-century-s-fashion-of-running-down-the-human/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It would seem to me... an offense against nature, for us to come on the same scene endowed as we are with the curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-would-seem-to-me-an-offense-against-nature-for-us-to-come-on-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Nature abhors a long silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/nature-abhors-a-long-silence/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. 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