Ivan Gerald Lee

“We all look for the crack of dawn that signals the passage of responsibility to a fresh crew. We all know the system sucks, that the long hours make for fuzzy thinking and that they generate pure blind hate at facing that next ridiculous admission. We all feel the frustration of doing too much for too few, and the insecurity of not knowing how much is too much or if it was really too little. We don’t like admitting how little we know, and none of us wants to look like fools. We don’t like criticism and yet we need it. We flog and flog, and rarely have the opportunity to see the veritable forest for the trees. We hate the patients for making more work for us. We especially hate the grossly self-destructive ones who don’t deserve our sweat and society’s money.”
― Mikkael A. Sekeres, On the Edge of Life: Diary of a Medical Intensive Care Unit

“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.”
― Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

“The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don’t listen to it, you will never know what justice is.”
― Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present

“People with serious illness have priorities besides simply prolonging their lives. Surveys find that their top concerns include avoiding suffering, strengthening relationships with family and friends, being mentally aware, not being a burden on others, and achieving a sense that their life is complete.”
― Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End