Abraham Flexner –
The investigator, obviously, observes, experiments
and judges; so do the physician and surgeon who
practise their art in the modern spirit.
Medical Education, A Comparative StudyCh.
John Florio –
English lexicographer and translator
Patience is the best medicine.
First Frutes
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontanelle
–
French anatomist
In vain we shall penetrate more and more deeply
the secrets of the structure of the human body, we
shall not dupe nature; we shall die as usual.
Dialogues des MortsDialogue V
We anatomists are like the porters in Paris, who
are acquainted with the narrowest and most
distant streets, but who know nothing of what
takes place in the houses.
Attributed
Sir John Forbes –
Scottish physician and editor
In a large proportion of cases treated by
physicians, the disease is cured by nature, not by
them.
Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine
Henry Ford –
US car manufacturer
Exercise is bunk. If you are healthy, you don’t
need it: if you are sick, you shouldn’t take it.
Attributed
The trouble with the human body as compared
with the car is that the exhaust is too near the
ignition.
Attributed
Nicholas J. Fox
Contemporary Lecturer in Sociology, Department of
General Practice, University of Sheffield
Three elements of surgery define it as different
from almost all other clinical specialties: the
degree of invasiveness, the use of anaesthetic
techniques and its emphasis on sterility.
The Social Meaning of Surgeryp. . Open University Press
()
Sir Theodore Fox –
Editor of the Lancet
The physician is not the servant of science, or of
his race, or even of life. He is the individual
servant of his individual patient basing his
decisions always on their individual interest.
Lancet: –()
We shall have to learn to refrain from doing things
merely because we know how to do them.
Lancet: ()
Johann Peter Frank –
German professor of medicine and public health reformerAll persons whether male or female, ascertained
to be infected with venereal disease should be
restrained from intercourse until this was known
to be safe because they had been completely
restored to health.
System einer vollständigen medizinischen PolizeiVol ii ()Benjamin Franklin –
US Statesman and inventorBe not sick too late, or well too soon.
Poor Richard’s Almanack()A ship under sail and a big-bellied woman,Are the handsomest two things that can be seen
common.
Poor Richard’s Almanack()In general, mankind, since the improvement in
cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires.
Poor Richard’s Almanack()Nothing is more fatal to Health, than an over Care
of it.
Poor Richard’s Almanack()He’s the best physician that knows the
worthlessness of the most medicines.
Poor Richard’s Almanack()Be temperate in wine, in eating, girls, and sloth, or
the Gout will seize you and plague you both.
Poor Richard’s Almanack()
The patient may well be safer with a physician
who is naturally wise than with one who is
artificially learned.
Poor Richard’s Almanack ()He that lives upon hope will die fasting.
The Way to WealthQuacks are the greatest liars in the world except
their patients.
AttributedGirolamo Frascastoro –
Italian physician, VeronaMothers and fathers, peasants and rulers, children
and greybeards, stood mingled together; all
tortured in soul and foul in body, with scabby skin
from which matter oozed.
Syphilis, sive Morbus GallicusBk III ()Frederick the Great –
King of PrussiaEvery man has a wild beast within him.
Letter to Voltaire ()Men are born with an indelible character
Letter to d’Lembert () ·