Aaron

“Few people outside medicine realize that what tortures doctors most is uncertainty, rather than the fact they often deal with people who are suffering or who are about to die. It is easy enough to let somebody die if one knows beyond doubt that they cannot be saved - if one is a decent doctor one will be sympathetic, but the situation is clear. This is life, and we all have to die sooner or later. It is when I do not know for certain whether I can help or not, or should help or not, that things become so difficult.”
― Henry Marsh, Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

“Surgeons must always tell the truth but rarely, if ever, deprive patients of all hope. It can be very difficult to find the balance between optimism and realism.”
― Henry Marsh, Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery

“You might expect that seeing so much pain and suffering might help you keep your own difficulties in perspective but, alas, it does not.”
― Henry Marsh, Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

“The corridors and rooms were starting to fill with unfamiliar faces and patients the size of small whales being wheeled past on trolleys.”
― Henry Marsh, Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery