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Life's Pleasures Quote by Giacomo Casanova

"I always made my food congenial to my constitution, and my health was always excellent"

About this Quote

Casanova turns self-care into seduction with the casual swagger of a man who believes appetite is a philosophy. “Congenial to my constitution” sounds almost medical, but the phrasing is doing social work: it reframes indulgence as discipline, pleasure as prudence. He’s not bragging about kale; he’s bragging about control. The line implies that the body, properly managed, can be a reliable instrument for the life he wants to live - travel, sex, intrigue, reinvention - without collapsing under its own excess.

The intent is defensive and promotional at the same time. Casanova’s memoirs are packed with episodes where morality and hygiene were public battlegrounds. In an 18th-century Europe haunted by epidemics, dubious cures, and class-coded ideas of refinement, “excellent” health isn’t just a personal detail; it’s a credential. It positions him as modern, rational, and selective, not merely hedonistic. If you can claim robust health, you can claim your pleasures didn’t degrade you.

The subtext is also brand management. Casanova the celebrity needs to stay desirable, mobile, and credible. His claim suggests a private rulebook: he knows his body, he calibrates his intake, he avoids the vulgarity of being visibly undone by desire. It’s a neat rhetorical trick: he keeps the aura of indulgence while laundering it through “constitution,” a word that makes craving sound like character.

Quote Details

TopicHealth
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Casanova: Diet, Self-Knowledge, and Health
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About the Author

Giacomo Casanova

Giacomo Casanova (April 2, 1725 - June 4, 1798) was a Celebrity from Italy.

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