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No matter what ailed you, you went to see the barber surgeon who wound up cupping you, bleeding you, purging you.

Abraham Verghese

Being the first born gives you great patience.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Being Born First Giving Great Patience
Another day in paradise’ was his inevitable pronouncement when he settled his head on his pillow. Now I understand what that meant: the uneventful day was a precious gift.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Another Day Gift Inevitable Paradise Pillow Precious Pronouncement Settled
When I use the word ‘healing’, by that I mean that every disease has a physical element that we’re very good at handling, but there’s always a sense of the violation. ‘Why me?’ ‘
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Disease Element Good Handling Healing Job Mean Physical Spiritual
I still find the best way to understand a hospitalized patient is not by staring at the computer screen but by going to see the patient; it’s only at the bedside that I can figure out what is important.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Best Computer Hospitalized Important Patient Screen Understand Way
You are an instrument of God. Don’t leave the instrument sitting in its case, my son. Play! Leave no part of your instrument unexplored. .
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

God Instrument Leave Play Sitting Son Three
I joke, but I only half joke, that if you come to one of our hospitals missing a limb, no one will believe you till they get a CAT scan, MRI, or orthopedic consult.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Believe Cat Hospital Inspiration Joke Limb Missing Motivation Scan
I always wondered if the good people who send us bibles really think that hookworm and hunger are healed by scripture? Our patients are illiterate.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Hookworm Hunger People Scripture Thinking
And pray, why would this number interest us?” “It is the only number that describes itself when you read it, ‘One zero, two ones, three twos, two threes’.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Describe Interest Number One Only Pray Read Two Would Zero
If seems almost un-American to enjoy delays, and perhaps enjoy is not the best word, but certainly a delayed flight
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Best Country Delay Enjoy Flight Perhaps Seem Word
Yesterday misspent can’t be recall’d Vanity makes beauty contemptible Wisdom is more valuable than riches.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Contemptible Misspent Rich Valuable Vanity Wisdom Yesterday
This is my life, I thought…I have excised the cancer from my past, cut it out; I have crossed the high plains, descended into the desert, traversed oceans, and planted my feet in new soil
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Cancer Crossed Cut Cutting Dessented Excised High Ocean Past Plain Plan
By visiting patients in their home, by helping them come to terms with their illness, I could heal when I could not cure.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Helping Home Patient
The process of learning huge volumes of information about disease, of learning a specialised language, can ironically make one lose sight of the patient one came to serve;.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Information Ironically Language Learning Process Specialised Volume
I grew up and I found my purpose and it was to become a physician.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Become Found Grew Physician Purpose Up
God will judge us, Mr. Harris, by–by what we did to relieve the suffering of our fellow human beings. I don’t think God cares what doctrine we embrace.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Care God Human Being Judge Judging Relieve Suffering Thinking
We have the sense that medical students come to medicine with a great capacity to understand the suffering of patients.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Capacity Great Medicine Patient Sense Student Suffering Year

No matter what ailed you, you went to see the barber surgeon who wound up cupping you, bleeding you, purging you.

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No matter what ailed you, you went to see the barber surgeon who wound up cupping you, bleeding you, purging you.

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