Brain power improves by brain use, just as our bodily strength

In the ever-turning wheel of human endeavor, A. N. Wilson spoke words that shimmer with quiet truth: “Brain power improves by brain use, just as our bodily strength grows with exercise. And there is no doubt that a large proportion of the female population, from school days to late middle age, now have very complicated lives indeed.” Within this reflection lies a profound recognition of two eternal forces: the growth of the mind through effort, and the rising complexity of human existence, especially in the lives of women who, in our age, must balance creation, duty, intellect, and care all at once. These words are not merely an observation—they are a testament to the resilience and evolving brilliance of the human spirit.

To say that brain power improves by brain use is to recall the oldest of natural laws: that all strength—whether of body, heart, or intellect—emerges only through struggle. The mind, like the sword, gleams only when tested against resistance. The ancients understood this well. The philosophers of Athens sharpened their wits through debate, as athletes honed their bodies through labor. The Stoics, too, believed that wisdom was born of trial, that the soul’s muscles grew firm only when life pressed against them. Wilson’s words call us back to this timeless principle—that mental vitality is not inherited, but earned, forged daily in the fires of challenge.

But the second part of his insight unveils something more tender, more immediate, and deeply human. He speaks of the modern woman, whose life is often a tapestry of competing demands—study, work, family, ambition, love, and duty. Wilson recognizes that in the modern world, the feminine mind must bear a weight once unimaginable, and yet it grows stronger for it. This acknowledgment is both compassionate and reverent. For as the body grows through exertion, so too does the spirit grow through complexity. The complicated lives he describes are not a burden alone—they are the crucible through which strength, wisdom, and grace are born.

Consider the life of Marie Curie, who toiled in a small, unheated shed with her husband, refining pitchblende until it glowed with unseen power. She balanced the duties of motherhood with the relentless pursuit of knowledge, enduring exhaustion, loss, and prejudice. And yet from her perseverance came a revolution in science, a light that still illuminates the modern world. Her brain power did not spring forth by privilege or chance—it grew through use, through devotion, through a life both demanding and luminous. Hers was one of those “complicated lives” that Wilson honors, where intellect and endurance meet to create something immortal.

We see, then, that the exercise of the mind is no mere metaphor. It is a daily discipline, a sacred practice. Every challenge—every difficult decision, every act of learning, every effort to understand—becomes a kind of mental training, building the sinews of clarity and wisdom. The complexity of life, far from being an obstacle, is the very forge of greatness. To live simply may bring peace, but to live deeply brings growth. And in an age where the mind is pulled in a thousand directions, to persist in thought, reflection, and learning is itself an act of courage.

So, O listener, take this lesson to heart: do not flee from the complications of your life, nor from the labor of thinking, striving, and understanding. These are your sacred weights, the resistance that builds your inner strength. As the athlete trains the body, so must you train the mind—with curiosity, with patience, with purpose. Let your thoughts be exercised daily, not dulled by ease. Read, question, reflect; stretch the boundaries of your understanding as one stretches their limbs before dawn.

And to those who carry the intricate burdens of modern life—especially the women who balance so many worlds within themselves—know this: your complexity is your power. Your mind, refined through challenge, is a testament to human evolution and grace. Embrace the discipline of thought and the strength of your experience, for these are the tools by which civilizations are renewed.

Thus, the wisdom endures: just as muscle hardens through strain, so too does the mind ascend through use. Welcome the struggle, for it is the sacred path to consciousness. Cherish your complicated life, for within it lies the furnace that forges greatness.