35 William Osler Quotes For Budding Physicians
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Sir William Osler is an authoritative figure in modern medicine, having contributed to the field in the most practical of ways.
Not to be confused with the father of Medicine, Hippocrates, Osler was born on 12 July 1849, in Bradford West Gwillimbury, Canada. He was one of the most beloved physicians of all time.
Sir William Osler, Baronet, was born on 12 July 1849 in Bond Head, Canada West (which is today called Ontario). He was quite the practical joker as a child and remained one throughout his life.
Known for being "one of the greatest diagnosticians to wield a stethoscope," Sir William Osler was also a historian, author, Bibliophile, and quite honestly one of the most outstanding physicians to have graced medical history.
Even though Osler was bound to be a priest, as per his family's wishes, he developed a deep interest in natural history, which led him on an entirely different path.
After studying in colleges like Trinity College in Toronto and McGill University in Montreal, he spent a lot of time in University College in London, where he discovered the third kind of blood corpuscles, which would later go on to be called blood platelets.
In 1888, Sir William Osler joined John Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore as the first Professor of Medicine.
There began his real journey as he helped to transform the organization into the most famous medical school in the world.
In his long and successful career he provided many important quotes, and among the most important Dr. William Osler quotes is his observation that, "We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from life" and his claim that, "Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability".
Here are some great Sir William Osler quotes. As you enjoy these quotes, make sure to also check out our Doctor quotes and Charles Darwin quotes.
The Finest Quotes By William Osler
These funny and insightful quotes are shining examples of why Sir William Osler is also a fantastic writer.
1. "We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from life."
-William Osler.
2. "Quit worrying about your health. It'll go away."
-William Osler.
3. "Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought."
-William Osler.
4. "Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability."
-William Osler.
5. "The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism."
-William Osler.
6. "He who studies medicine without books sails an uncharted sea, but he who studies medicine without patients does not go to sea at all."
-William Osler.
7. "Listen to your patient – he is telling you the diagnosis."
-William Osler.
8. "The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease."
-William Osler.
9. "The very first step towards success in any occupation is to become interested in it."
-William Osler.
10. "The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today's work superbly well."
-William Osler.
11. "The future belongs to science. More and more she will control the destinies of the nations."
-William Osler.
12. "Nothing in life is more wonderful than faith - the one great moving force which we can neither weigh in the balance nor test in the crucible."
-William Osler.
13. "In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs."
-William Osler.
14. "Observe, record, tabulate, communicate. Use your five senses. Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone you can become expert."
-William Osler.
15. "What is patience but an equanimity which enables you to rise superior to the trials of life."
-William Osler.
16. "The foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow."
-William Osler.
17. "Laughter is the music of life."
-William Osler.
18. "The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next."
-William Osler.
19. "Be calm and strong and patient. Meet failure and disappointment with courage. Rise superior to the trials of life, and never give in to hopelessness or despair."
-William Osler.
20. "The future is today."
-William Osler.
Sir William Osler Quotes On Medicine
Here are some phenomenal William Osler quotes on the subject of medicine and all its aspects that will interest any medical practitioner.
21. "The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine."
-William Osler.
22. "Medicine is learned by the bedside and not in the classroom. Let not your conceptions of disease come from the words heard in the lecture room or read from the book. See and then reason and compare and control. But see first."
-William Osler.
23. "The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature which distinguishes man from animals."
-William Osler.
24. "It is astonishing with how little reading a doctor can practice medicine, but it is not astonishing how badly he may do it."
-William Osler.
25. "One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine."
-William Osler.
26. "A physician who treats himself has a fool for a patient."
-William Osler.
27. "The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head."
-William Osler.
28. "To study the phenomena of disease without books is to sail an uncharted sea, while to study books without patients is not to go to sea at all."
-William Osler.
29. "It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has."
-William Osler.
30. "The young doctor should look about early for an avocation, a pastime; that will take him away from patients, pills, and potions."
-William Osler.
Special William Osler Quotes On Life
His great sense of humor defined William Osler's life well. Here are a few lines to show just that.
31. "Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day 's work absorb your entire energies, and satisfy your wildest ambition."
-William Osler.
32. "Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants."
-William Osler.
33. "One special advantage of the skeptical attitude of mind is that a man is never vexed to find that after all, he has been in the wrong."
-William Osler.
34. "The value of experience is not in seeing much, but in seeing wisely."
-William Osler.
35. "We are all dietetic sinners; only a small percent of what we eat nourishes us; the balance goes to waste and loss of energy."
-William Osler.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 35 William Osler quotes, then why not take a look at these [funny science quotes], or Biology quotes too?
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A professional content writer hailing from Kolkata, India, with extensive experience in the corporate sector, Writvik Gupta has worked with several reputed companies, including ITC WelcomHotel Jodhpur, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Aryan Imaging, and Eduquity. He also serves as a consultant for a startup based in Bangalore. With a passion for the outdoors, Writvik enjoys trekking and traveling to remote destinations. He also has a keen interest in exploring various cuisines and regularly volunteers for social causes.
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