Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. As by the one
health is preserved, strengthened, and invigorated; by the other, virtue
(which is the health of the mind) is kept alive, cherished, and
confirmed. But as exercise becomes tedious and painful when we make use
of it only as the means of health, so reading is apt to grow uneasy and
burdensome when we apply ourselves to it only for our improvement in
virtue. For this reason the virtue which we gather from a fable or an
allegory is like health we get by hunting; as we are engaged in an
agreeable pursuit that draws us on with pleasure, and makes us
insensible of the fatigues that accompany it.--SIR R. STEELE. _Tatler_,
147.