To avoid sickness eat less; to prolong life worry less.

The saying pairs two kinds of moderation—dietary restraint and emotional restraint—as complementary routes to health. “Eat less” reflects a long-standing moral and medical commonplace: overindulgence burdens the body and invites illness. “Worry less” shifts from the physical to the mental, implying that chronic anxiety erodes vitality and shortens life. The parallel structure makes the counsel feel practical and proverbial, presenting longevity not as a mystery but as the cumulative result of everyday habits. Read broadly, it advocates balance: temper appetite, temper rumination, and you reduce self-inflicted harms that masquerade as fate.