What about regular professionals, who just want to do what they do as well as they can?

Better is possible. It does not take genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all, it takes a willingness to try.

Our reluctance to honestly examine the experience of aging and dying has increased the harm we inflict on people and denied them the basic comforts they most need.

No matter what measures are taken, doctors will sometimes falter, and it isn't reasonable to ask that we achieve perfection. What is reasonable is to ask that we never cease to aim for it.

You may not control life's circumstances, but getting to be the author of your life means getting to control what you do with them.

You can't make a recipe for something as complicated as surgery. Instead, you can make a recipe for how to have a team that's prepared for the unexpected.

Arriving at an acceptance of one's mortality is a process, not an epiphany.

Courage is strength in the face of knowledge of what is to be feared or hoped. Wisdom is prudent strength.

Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance.

Life is choices, and they are relentless. No sooner have you made one choice than another is upon you.

This is the reality of intensive care: at any point, we are as apt to harm as we are to heal.

The fourth gift is Compassion. May you be gentle with yourself and others. May you forgive those who hurt you and yourself when you make mistakes.

...she was probably having a few murderous thoughts of her own about any woman that touched him. Good, they were making progress.

When words don't come easy, I make do with silence and find something in nothing." ~ Strider Marcus Jones, Poet

Secrets have an unfortunate way of spreading far beyond those they were intended for.

Sadness doesn't equal weakness, sweetheart. If anything, it shows the love you have inside of you, and nothing stronger in this world exists.

Men perish by the sword cowards by disease.

I'm not a communist, of course. But I do think that everything is down to economics. Capitalism doesn't change.

It's foolish to go through life bemoaning the fact that you can't have this or that. Twaddle! You can omit certain foods and still enjoy eating.

History would be an excellent thing if only it were true.

It is becoming impossible for those who mix at all with their fellow-men to believe that the grace of God is distributed denominationally.