One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.

Shut out all of your past except that which will help you weather your tomorrows.

—Sir William Osler

Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought.

—Sir William Osler

Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day's work absorb your entire energies, and satisfy your widest ambition.

—Sir William Osler

The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature which distinguishes man from animals.

—Sir William Osler

The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.

—Sir William Osler

Orthodox medicine has not found an answer to your complaint. However, luckily for you, I happen to be a quack.

—Richter cartoon caption

[Medicine is] a collection of uncertain prescriptions the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind.

—Napoleon Bonaparte

Don't live in a town where there are no doctors.

—Jewish Proverb

Let's not kid ourselves. Whatever we diagnose, most patients, if they don't die, get well by themselves. Our job is mainly to try to make them feel better; do no harm.

—Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

One has a greater sense of intellectual degradation after an interview with a doctor than from any human experience.

—Alice James