Oxford Dictionary of Medical Quotations

Preface

The Oxford Dictionary of Medical Quotationsis intended to be a rich source of quotations

covering a variety of medically related topics. Those selected have been deliberately kept

short in an effort to highlight the pithiest phrase or the sharpest insight. Some are witty,

some are maudlin, some merely factual. They have been selected on the basis of their use-

fulness to modern medical authors, journalists, politicians, nurses, physios, lecturers, and

even health managers, who will always have need to season their works with the clever or

witty phrases of former colleagues whose intuitions still say as much today as when they

were first published. Many reflect the compiler’s tastes and prejudices but there will be

something for everyone within these pages.

Browsing through many texts to find the most appropriate quotations to include in the

Oxford Dictionary of Medical Quotationshas afforded an insight into both medical history as

well as the nature of the doctors and others who have chiselled these phrases. A glance for

the casual reader not looking for a specific quote will be rewarding in itself.

Quotations are listed under author, with an index of keywords that permits the reader

to access a number of quotes with the same keyword. Wherever possible, biographical

information about the author and whence the quote originated are included, although it

is acknowledged that there are several omissions in this regard. When the original source

is not clear, the secondary source has been substituted if it was thought useful for further

study for the reader. If the quotation was deened to merit a place in the Dictionaryeven

without full reference being available, it was included. Indeed, it is not necessary for an

author to be particularly well known to be in the dictionary if he or she had given birth to

a bon motor a succinct phrase.

The majority of the quotations come from the English-speaking medical worlds of Great

Britain, Ireland, and North America but several quotes from other rich medical cultures

have been included in translation.

Whether readers are looking for a suitable quotation on surgery, science, kidneys, or

kindness, they should find much here to satisfy. Medicine is both the narrowest and broad-

est of subjects, and I have included examples of both the specific and the general. If I have

failed to find that favourite concise quote, please send it fully referenced and it will be

included in the next edition. Any corrections of birth dates and deaths will be most wel-

come and acknowledged in subsequent editions.

July 2002 Peter McDonald MBBS MS FRCS

Northwick Park and St. Mark’s Hospital, Harrow, Middlesex, UK

[email protected]