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That’s the funny thing about America–the blessed thing. As many people as there are to hold you back, there are angels whose humanity makes up for all the others.

Abraham Verghese

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
For one who has an interest in the body as text, airports are treasure troves of information.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Airports Body Country Doe Information Interest Opportunity Treasure
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
And then by the end of the third year they completely lose that ability, partly because we teach them the specialized language of medicine.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Ability Completely End Language Medical Partly Specialized Teach Third Year
Pray tell us, what’s your favorite number?”… “Shiva jumped up to the board, uninvited, and wrote 10,213,223″… “
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Board Digit Jumped Number Pray Shiva Two Uninvited Wrote Zero
A discourse that begins at a book club in a living room, but then spreads. That is meaningful to me.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Begin Boo Club Discourse Living Meaningful Room Spread
My sense is that the wonderful technology that we have to visualize the inside of the body often leaves physicians feeling that the exam is a waste of time and so they may shortchange the ritual.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Body Feeling Leave Physician Sense Technology Visualize Wonderful
He was teaching me how to die, just as he’d taught me how to live.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Die Laugh Life Live Manner Taught Teaching
I think we can see how blessed we are in America to have access to the kind of health care we do if we are insured, and even if uninsured, how there is a safety net.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Access Blessed Care Country Health Insured Kind Thinking
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
The rituals we use for marriage, baptism or inaugurating a president are as elaborate as they are because we associate the ritual with a major life passage, the crossing of a critical threshold, or in other words, with transformation.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Associate Baptism Elaborate Inauguration Marriage President Ritual
I was angry with myself because I still loved her, or at least I loved that dream of our togetherness. My feelings were unreasonable, irrational, and I couldn’t change them. That hurt.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Angry Dream Feeling Hurt Loved Myself Togetherness Unreasonable
What we are fighting isn’t godlessness–this is the most godly country on earth.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Country Disease Fight Fighting Godly Poverty
My VIP patients often regret so many things on their deathbeds. They regret the bitterness they’ll leave in people’s hearts.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Deathbed Heart Mean Patient People Regret VIP
Now, as to the problem of how much health care costs and how we reform health care … it is another story altogether.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Altogether Another Care Cost Health Much Problem Reform Story
In America, we have always taken it as an article of faith that we ‘battle’ cancer; we attack it with knives, we poison it with chemotherapy or we blast it with radiation.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Always Attack Battle Cancer Country Poison Taken

That’s the funny thing about America–the blessed thing. As many people as there are to hold you back, there are angels whose humanity makes up for all the others.

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That’s the funny thing about America–the blessed thing. As many people as there are to hold you back, there are angels whose humanity makes up for all the others.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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