William OslerThinkers

40 (age) is a cutoff point for most human achievement. The vitalizing work of the world is done before the age of forty and if one were to subtract the achievements of men above forty, we would practically be where we are today.

The Common cold is a thing best treated with a dose of contempt.

The Diagnosis is told to the physician by the patient if the doctor listens carefully enough.

Diagnosis is a determination whereby it is more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has.

Education is not a college course or a medical course but a life course.

Genetics is destiny. Varicose veins, for example, is nothing but the result of an improper selection of grandparents.

Happiness lies in absorption in some vocation which satisfies the soul.

A Library is representative of the mind of its collector, fancies and foibles, strengths and weaknesses, prejudices and preferences.

Life is a thing we are here to add what we can to it, not to get what we can from it.

The Patient is a lesson in much more than the malady from which he suffers.