Project: from homo computeris to Olympic Athlete

[Epictetus]

This is not about physical appearance, diet or training, but deals with something just as important. I always thought it was a good quote.

You want to win at the Olympics? So do I – who doesn’t? It is a glorious achievement; but reflect on what’s entailed both now and later on before committing to it. You have to submit to discipline, maintain a strict diet, abstain from rich foods, exercise under compulsion at set times in weather hot and cold, refrain from drinking water or wine whenever you want – in short, you have to hand yourself over to your trainer as if he were our doctor. And then there are digging contests to endure, and times when you will dislocate your wrist, turn your ankle, swallow quantities of sand, be whipped – and end up losing all the same. Consider all this, and if you still want to, then give athletics a go.

Epictetus, Enchiridion, 29.2-3

Of course, he is using this example to explain to his students how difficult it can be to practise philosophy, but the quote can still stand by itself, I think.