The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

Chapter 5: Fatigue
Fatigue is of many sorts, some of which are a much
graver obstacle to happiness than others. Purely
physical fatigue, provided it is not excessive, tends
if anything to be a cause of happiness; it leads to
sound sleep and a good appetite, and gives zest to
the pleasures that are possible on holidays. But
when it is excessive it becomes a very grave evil.
Peasant women in all but the most advanced
communities are old at thirty, worn out with
excessive toil. Children in the early days of
industrialism were stunted in their growth and
frequently killed by overwork in early years. The
same thing still happens in China and Japan, where
industrialism is new; to some extent also in the
Southern States of America. Physical labour
carried beyond a certain point is atrocious torture,
and it has very frequently been carried so far as to
make life all but unbearable. In the most advanced
parts of the modern world, however, physical
fatigue has been much minimised through the
improvement of industrial conditions.