Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) - 2.2.4. lyrics

Now learn the benefits that accompany plain living. First good health. Think how simple fare once suited you If you want to discover how ill-a**orted courses Harm a man. As soon as you mix boiled and roast, Or oysters and thrushes, the sweet juice will turn acid, The thick bile will cause stomach-ache. See how pale The diners all seem as they leave the doubtful feast! Bloated with yesterday's excess the body weighs down The soul, and nails a fragment of divine spirit to earth. But the plain-living man who eats then snatches a nap Quick as a flash, rises refreshed for his appointed tasks. He can still turn to a richer diet, when an annual holiday Comes round, or he wants to fill out his slender frame, Or when advancing age demands greater indulgence: But if severe illness strikes you, or feeble senility, How can you increase those indulgences you take So much for granted while you're young and healthy?