Many remedies are suggested for the avoidance of worry and mental overstrain by persons who, over prolonged periods, have to bear exceptional responsibilities and discharge duties upon a very large scale. Some advise exercise, and others, repose. Some counsel travel, and others, retreat. Some praise solitude, and others, gaiety. No doubt all these may play their part according to the individual temperament. But the element which is constant and common in all of them is Change.
Churchill considers different ways of relieving worry and mental strain among people carrying heavy responsibilities. Exercise, rest, travel, solitude and social activity may all help, but he argues that their common feature is a change from the usual pattern of thought and activity. The value lies less in any single remedy than in shifting attention and experience.
The passage reflects Churchill’s broader argument in Painting as a Pastime that absorbing interests can provide relief from demanding intellectual work. A change of occupation can engage different faculties without requiring complete inactivity. His point is not that one method will suit everyone, but that variation itself can be restorative. More broadly, the quotation suggests that sustained pressure may be managed by deliberately changing one’s environment, activity or focus, allowing the mind temporary distance from its usual burdens.