Aphorisms and Quotations

Here's a book for any quote enthusiast:

Aphorisms & Quotations for the Surgeon. Edited by Moshe Schein. tfm Publishing, Ltd. : Shrewsbury, UK; 2003.

For those of you who have been looking for a convenient resource to pepper your next powerpoint presentation with a breath of surgical history, this is the book for you. Even better if you are looking for a little inspiration at the end of the day. In addition to instilling the text with witticisms of his own, Moshe Schein has organized the numerous quotes into 94 different subject headings, ranging from the ubiquitous organ systems, to topics such as academics, dogma, greatness, love, money, politics, gimmicks, fame, ethics, empathy, and errors.

Here are a few:

There are 4 degrees of intra-operative hemorrhage:
1. "Why did I get involved in this operation?"
2. "Why did I become a surgeon?"
3. "Why did I study to become a doctor?"
4. "Why was I born?"
-Alexander A Artemiev

When I am carrying out a big, unusual, or difficult operation, I never plan anything later that day.
-Francis D. Moore

It is a most gratifying sign of the rapid progress of our time that our best textbooks become antiquated so quickly.
-Theodor Billroth

I would like to see the day when somebody would be appointed surgeon somewhere who had no hands, for the operative part is the least part of the work.
-Harvey W. Cushing

Medical examinations: they are no tests of the man. They are only tests for his memory for facts. They tell us nothing of his judgement, tact, energy, enthusiasm, idealism, reason, observation, temperament, disposition, honesty, loyalty, courage, truthfulness, or intelligence. Memory of facts means little. The other things mean nearly all.
-J. Chalmers Da Costa

The pleasure of a physician is little, the gratitude of patients is rare, and even rarer is material reward, but these things will never deter the student who feels the call within him.
-Theodor Billroth

You must always be students, learning and unlearning till your life's end, and if, gentlemen, you are not prepared to follow your profession in this spirit, I implore you to leave its ranks and betake yourself to some third-class trade.
-Joseph Lister

Late... SG