Though I am fascinated by knowledge, I am even more fascinated by wisdom. Abraham Verghese More Quotes by Abraham Verghese More Quotes From Abraham Verghese Pray tell us, what's your favorite number? Abraham Verghese praying math numbers In an emergency, what treatment is given by ear? Words of Comfort. Abraham Verghese emergencies ears comfort Be careful! Travel expands the mind and loosens the bowels. Abraham Verghese be-careful bowels mind For one who has an interest in the body as text, airports are treasure troves of information. It seems almost un-American to enjoy delays, and perhaps enjoy is not the best word, but certainly a delayed flight, if it does nothing else, allows one the opportunity to make prolonged observations about one's fellow travelers. Abraham Verghese airports doe opportunity When a man is a mystery to himself you can hardly call him mysterious. Abraham Verghese mysterious mystery men My sense is that the wonderful technology that we have to visualize the inside of the body often leaves physicians feeling that the exam is a waste of time and so they may shortchange the ritual. Abraham Verghese physicians technology feelings The flip side of suicide is that it leaves a lingering question in the minds of the people who survived. Its like a cancer thats metastasized. The suicide is the cancer and the metastasis is all these people saying, Why? Why? Why? Abraham Verghese cancer suicide people What did it say when a man had fewer clothes than books? Abraham Verghese clothes men book The only way to know where you are is by where you have just been. Abraham Verghese where-you-are knows way I still find the best way to understand a hospitalized patient is not by staring at the computer screen but by going to see the patient; it's only at the bedside that I can figure out what is important. Abraham Verghese patient important way Certainly when I got to medical school, I had role models of the kind of physicians I wanted to be. I had an uncle who, looking back, was probably not the most-educated physician around but he carried it off so well. Abraham Verghese role-models uncles school If 'ecstasy' meant the sudden intrusion of the sacred into the ordinary, then it had just happened to me. Abraham Verghese intrusion sacred ordinary To be around someone whose self-confidence is more than what our first glance led us to expect is seductive. Abraham Verghese self-confidence seductive firsts She had always assumed that she would have years to sort out the meaning of life... As she bent over the child she realized that the tragedy of death had to do entirely with what was left unfulfilled. Abraham Verghese tragedy children years How we treat the least of our brethren,... that's the measure of this country. Abraham Verghese brethren treats country Ignorance was just as dynamic as knowledge, and it grew in the same proportion. Abraham Verghese proportion grew ignorance When I use the word 'healing', by that I mean that every disease has a physical element that we're very good at handling, but there's always a sense of the violation. 'Why me?' 'Why is my leg broken on the ski trip and not anyone else's?' And I think that medicine has done a terrible job of addressing that spiritual violation. Abraham Verghese spiritual jobs mean No matter what ailed you, you went to see the barber surgeon who wound up cupping you, bleeding you, purging you. And, oh yes, if you wanted, he would give you a haircut and pull your tooth while he was at it. Abraham Verghese teeth matter giving We're losing a ritual. We're losing a ritual that I believe is transformative, transcendent, and is at the heart of the patient-physician relationship. Abraham Verghese motivation inspiration believe By visiting patients in their home, by helping them come to terms with their illness, I could heal when I could not cure. Abraham Verghese patient home helping
