"Most of us benefit from periods of relaxation and we may achieve this pleasure in a number of ways including an occasional smoke. If this statement shocks you, coming as it does from a physician who does not smoke and never has, then of course I owe you a complete explanation. My thinking is not based so much on scientific or medical facts as it is on a simple philosophy of life and health. I believe that everything we do in life involves a certain amount of risk. We can't drive a car, play golf, compete in tennis, swim, fly, cross the street, or take a shot of penicillin without assuming certain risks. We are, in short, always assuming risks. Usually the risks we assume do not intrude upon our consciousness of living. We do not think of them as risks. At other times, we give great thought to them, and we base our decisions on logical and intelligent thinking. Most of us will assume a risk whenever we feel the actual or potential hazards are not out of proportion to the gain. What is the gain in smoking? No matter how you word it, the usual answer is pleasure. You enjoy it. You enjoy it because it may enable you to relax. It helps ease stress and strain, but as we shall see, its relaxing qualities are psychic and not due to a sedative effect."
Good Reading Rack Service, 1960
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