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You live it forward, but understand it backward.

Abraham Verghese

I think America is really in denial about the degree to which residents, particularly foreign medical graduates, man the county hospitals of this country, and but for their services, I’m not sure how exactly we could manage.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Country Foreign Graduate Man Medical Men Resident Thinking
In writing, as in medicine, there are no short cuts. You need stamina.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Cutting Medicine Short Cut Stamina Writing
We come unbidden into this life, and if we are lucky we find a purpose beyond starvation, misery, and early death which, lest we forget, is the common lot.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Believe Beyond Death Doctor Early Lucky Physician Purpose Starvation Unbidden
She died chasing greatness and never saw it each time it was in her hand, so she kept seeking it elsewhere, but never understood the work required to get it or to keep it.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Chasing Died Each Elsewhere Greatness Hand never Saw Seeking Time
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
It’s an eerie feeling, as if my old mentor is not just in the room, but in my shoes, using me as his mouthpiece.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Eerie Feeling Mentor Mouthpiece Old Room Shoe
When a man is a mystery to himself you can hardly call him mysterious.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Call Hardly Himself Man Mysterious Mystery
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
When you win, you often lose, that’s just a fact. There’s no currency to straighten a warped spirit, or open a closed heart, a selfish heart.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Currency Heart Lose Often Open Selfish Straighten Warped Winning
A beautiful literary collection that tells of today’s country doctor, somewhat removed from our romantic black-bag image of days gone by, but still fulfilling an essential need in caring for spread-out populations.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Bag Beautiful Black Caring Collection Country Literary Remove Romantic
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
Why is my leg broken on the ski trip and not anyone else’s?’ And I think that medicine has done a terrible job of addressing that spiritual violation.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Addressing Anyone Broken Job Leg Medicine Terrible Trip
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
When I wake to the gift of yet another sunrise my first thought is to rouse him and say, I owe you the sight of morning.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Another Gift Morning Sight Sunrise Wake
Literature is a beautiful way of keeping the imagination alive, of visiting worlds you would never have time to in your day-to-day life. It keeps you abreast of a wider spectrum of human activities.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Alive Beautiful Imagination Keeping Literature Time World
I had an uncle who, looking back, was probably not the most-educated physician around but he carried it off so well.
ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Back Carried Educated Looking Physician Probably Uncle Well

You live it forward, but understand it backward.

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You live it forward, but understand it backward.

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