He who has health is rich and does not know it — good health is a form of wealth so fundamental that those who possess it rarely appreciate it. Only its loss reveals what was taken for granted.
The awareness of health as the primary wealth resonated particularly deeply in the Veneto, a region that lived through the Black Death (which killed perhaps a third of the Venetian population in the fourteenth century), the cholera epidemics of the nineteenth century, the Spanish flu of 1918-1919 (devastating in the war-weakened communities of the Piave valley), and the brutal attrition of two world wars fought largely on Venetian soil. The Piave river — celebrated in Italy's unofficial second national anthem — marks the line where the Italian army stopped the Austrian advance in 1917-1918 after the disaster of Caporetto, and the villages of the Piave valley remember those years in every family. Against this backdrop, the simple possession of a healthy body was genuinely and explicitly understood as wealth. The Euganean Hills thermal spas — Abano Terme, Montegrotto, Battaglia Terme — drew the wealthy from across Europe precisely because health could be bought if you had the money, which meant that health was currency. The Venetian proverb inserts the word 'rigo' (rich, from the same root as the Italian 'ricco') to make the equivalence exact: health is not like wealth, it is wealth.
The health-as-wealth equation was shaped by Veneto's experience of devastating epidemics from the Black Death through the Spanish flu; the thermal spa culture of the Euganean Hills (Roman origins, still active today) reflects the commercial value placed on health in Venetian culture.
An elderly woman who has just recovered from a serious illness
Prima non ci pensavo. Adesso che sto meglio capisco. Chi ga salute xe rigo e no lo sa — non l'avevo capito finché non l'ho persa.
Before I did not think about it. Now that I am better I understand. He who has health is rich and does not know it — I had not understood until I lost it.
A doctor advising a patient who complains about minor ailments
Ha tutto — cuore sano, pressione normale, niente di serio. Chi ga salute xe rigo e no lo sa — apprezzalo.
You have everything — healthy heart, normal blood pressure, nothing serious. He who has health is rich and does not know it — appreciate it.
A grandfather toasting his family's health at a Christmas dinner
Alla salute di tutti. Chi ga salute xe rigo e no lo sa — che lo sappiamo almeno stasera.
To everyone's health. He who has health is rich and does not know it — may we know it at least tonight.
A man who gave up a high-stress job to protect his health
Guadagnavo molto di più. Ma stavo sempre male. Chi ga salute xe rigo e no lo sa — adesso sono più povero ma più ricco.
I was earning much more. But I was always ill. He who has health is rich and does not know it — now I am poorer but richer.