Sign in with Facebook
“Seeing the body as matter and mechanism is the flip side to easing the most profound human suffering.”
― When Breath Becomes Air
― When Breath Becomes Air
“You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving.”
― When Breath Becomes Air
― When Breath Becomes Air
“However, it did make the throwaway assumption that the mind
was simply the operation of the brain, an idea that struck me with force; it
startled my naïve understanding of the world. Of course, it must be true—
what were our brains doing, otherwise? Though we had free will, we were
also biological organisms—the brain was an organ, subject to all the laws of
physics, too”
―
was simply the operation of the brain, an idea that struck me with force; it
startled my naïve understanding of the world. Of course, it must be true—
what were our brains doing, otherwise? Though we had free will, we were
also biological organisms—the brain was an organ, subject to all the laws of
physics, too”
―
“In the midst of this endless barrage of head injuries, I began to suspect that being so
close to the fiery light of such moments only blinded me to their nature, like
trying to learn astronomy by staring directly at the sun. I was not yet with
patients in their pivotal moments, I was merely at those pivotal moments. I
observed a lot of suffering; worse, I became inured to it. Drowning, even in
blood, one adapts, learns to float, to swim, even to enjoy life, bonding with
the nurses, doctors, and others who are clinging to the same raft, caught in
the same tide.”
― When Breath Becomes Air
close to the fiery light of such moments only blinded me to their nature, like
trying to learn astronomy by staring directly at the sun. I was not yet with
patients in their pivotal moments, I was merely at those pivotal moments. I
observed a lot of suffering; worse, I became inured to it. Drowning, even in
blood, one adapts, learns to float, to swim, even to enjoy life, bonding with
the nurses, doctors, and others who are clinging to the same raft, caught in
the same tide.”
― When Breath Becomes Air
“When a patient comes in with a fatal head bleed, that first conversation with
a neurosurgeon may forever color how the family remembers the death,
from a peaceful letting go (“Maybe it was his time”) to an open sore of
regret (“Those doctors didn’t listen! They didn’t even try to save him!”).
When there’s no place for the scalpel, words are the surgeon’s only tool”
―
a neurosurgeon may forever color how the family remembers the death,
from a peaceful letting go (“Maybe it was his time”) to an open sore of
regret (“Those doctors didn’t listen! They didn’t even try to save him!”).
When there’s no place for the scalpel, words are the surgeon’s only tool”
―
Andre’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Andre’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Andre
Lists liked by Andre
