American - Writer | April 1, 1977 - March 9, 2015
People react differently to hearing 'Procedure X has a 70 percent chance of survival' and 'Procedure Y has a 30 percent chance of death.' Phrased that way, people flock to Procedure X, even though the numbers are the same.
Paul Kalanithi
DeathPeopleChanceSurvivalNumbers
We build scientific theories to organize and manipulate the world, to reduce phenomena into manageable units.
WorldBuildOrganizeReduceUnits
The good news is that I've already outlived two Brontes, Keats, and Stephen Crane. The bad news is that I haven't written anything.
GoodBadGood NewsNewsAnything
Putting lifestyle first is how you find a job - not a calling.
JobYouFindLifestyleFirstHow
A resident's surgical skill is judged by their technique and speed. You can't be sloppy, and you can't be slow.
SlowSpeedYouSkillTechnique
Everyone succumbs to finitude. I suspect I am not the only one who reaches this pluperfect state. Most ambitions are either achieved or abandoned; either way, they belong to the past. The future, instead of the ladder toward the goals of life, flattens out into a perpetual present.
LifeGoalsFuturePastI AmPresent
I knew medicine only by its absence - specifically, the absence of a father growing up: one who went to work before dawn and returned in the dark to a plate of reheated dinner.
WorkFatherGrowing UpDinnerDawn
The tricky part of illness is that, as you go through it, your values are constantly changing... You may decide you want to spend your time working as a neurosurgeon, but two months later, you may want to learn to play the saxophone or devote yourself to the church. Death may be a one-time event, but living with terminal illness is a process.
TimeDeathYourselfChurchLearn
The root of disaster means a star coming apart, and no image expresses better the look in a patient's eyes when hearing a neurosurgeon's diagnosis.
EyesBetterLookImageHearingStar
While all doctors treat diseases, neurosurgeons' work is the crucible of identity. Every operation on the brain is, by necessity, a manipulation of the substance of our selves.
WorkIdentityBrainTreatNecessity
Had I been more religious in my youth, I might have become a pastor, for it was the pastoral role I'd sought.
YouthBecomeMorePastorRoleBeen
Before operating on a patient's brain... I must first understand his mind: his identity, his values, what makes his life worth living, and what devastation makes it reasonable to let that life end.
LifeIdentityMindBrainEndValues
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