MH page 125

The true physician is an educator. He recognizes his responsibility, not only to the sick who are under his direct care, but also to the community in which he lives. He stands as a guardian of both physical and moral health. It is his endeavor not only to teach right methods for the treatment of the sick, but to encourage right habits of living, and to spread a knowledge of right principles.

Physicians should act as educators and guardians of both physical and moral health, teaching treatment methods and right habits. The paragraph outlines the broader role of a physician beyond mere treatment, focusing on education and moral guardianship.

Education in health principles was never more needed than now. Notwithstanding the wonderful progress in so many lines relating to the comforts and conveniences of life, even to sanitary matters and to the treatment of disease, the decline in physical vigor and power of endurance is alarming. It demands the attention of all who have at heart the well-being of their fellow men.

Despite material progress, human physical vigor and endurance are declining, which demands attention. It combines a sociological observation regarding modernization with an empirical assertion about declining physical vigor.

Our artificial civilization is encouraging evils destructive of sound principles. Custom and fashion are at war with nature. The practices they enjoin, and the indulgences they foster, are steadily lessening both physical and mental strength, and bringing upon the race an intolerable burden. Intemperance and crime, disease and wretchedness, are everywhere.

Artificial civilization, custom, and fashion oppose nature and diminish physical and mental strength. It offers a cultural critique paired with claims regarding the physiological impacts of lifestyle choices.