Mens Sana in Corpore Sano - History

History

The phrase is derived from Satire X of the Roman poet Juvenal (10.356). In context, the phrase is but one element of a more fulsome answer to the question of what it is that is desirable in life:

English translation: You should pray for a sound mind in a sound body. Ask for a stout heart that has no fear of death, and deems length of days the least of Nature's gifts that can endure anykind of toil, that knows neither wrath nor desire and thinks the woes and hard labors of Hercules better than the loves and banquets and downy cushions of Sardanapalus. What I commend to you, you can give to yourself; For assuredly, the only road to a life of peace is virtue.

In Original Latin: orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. fortem posce animum mortis terrore carentem, qui spatium uitae extremum inter munera ponat naturae, qui ferre queat quoscumque labores, nesciat irasci, cupiat nihil et potiores Herculis aerumnas credat saeuosque labores et uenere et cenis et pluma Sardanapalli. monstro quod ipse tibi possis dare; semita certe tranquillae per uirtutem patet unica uitae. –Roman poet Juvenal (10.356-64)

Traditional commentators believe that Juvenal's intention was to teach his fellow Roman citizens that in the main, their prayers for such things as long life are misguided. That the gods had provided man with virtues which he then lists for them.

Over time and separated from its context, the phrase has come to have a range of meanings. It can be construed to mean that only a healthy body can produce or sustain a healthy mind. Its most general usage is to express the hierarchy of needs: with physical and mental health at the root.