BRAINS AND BRAWN.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5156, 25 July 1927, Page 3

BRAINS AND BRAWN.

ATHLETES AT A PBEMIiUM, THE TYPE TO BE AIMED AT. Mens sana in corpore sano —a sound mind in a sound body—is a good sound motto. At the same.time it cuts both ways. It will be observed that mens sana comes first. In London the public mind is exercised over the competition by schools for athletes. Advertisements) have been published offering special terms to “ promising boy athletes,” and even “games scholarships.” The “ antis-" are talking about the breeding ef little gladiators. In some of our schools a little too much attention may be paid to sport. Yet, on the whole-, it is better that too much should be made of it than too little. If we consider the great geniuses of the past we find that few or none are weakly or undeveloped physically. Shakespeare, judging from his portraits and his robust philosophy, was a man of average physique. Goethe was a splendid fellow, Beethoven was known in Vienna ast the “ Little Titan.” Napoleon was a sturdy little man. Darwin was a man of good physique and constitution. Cromwell was of the ugly rugged type. Michael Angelo lived to a great old age, so did Haydn. To the average man, without genius but with sufficient common sense to make him successful in life, a healthy body is the finest asset. So while we may ’rule the intellectual giants and the champion pugilists out of the discussion as rare beings to whom no rule applies, the combination of a sound mind with a sound body seems a good one. It was the type aimed at by Cecil Rhodes, in his will. While Michael Angelo and Mozart never played football or cricket, and while John L. Sullivan never held a paintbrush or exercised his mind in counterpoint, the average citizen who has extraordinary gifts neither of mind nor body must pay attention to both —and to neither too much attention.