“Diseases can rarely be eliminated through early diagnosis or good treatment, but prevention can eliminate disease.” DiseaseTreatmentDiagnosisPrevention Author:Denis Parsons Burkitt
“Eradication of microbial disease is a will-o'-the-wisp; pursuing it leads into a morass of hazy biological concepts and half truths.” HalfDiseaseConceptsHalf TruthWispsHazy Author:Rene Dubos
“How is it, one fine morning, Duchenne discovered a disease which probably existed in the time of Hippocrates.” MorningFineDisease Author:Jean-Martin Charcot
“I am about to discuss the disease called 'sacred'. It is not, in my opinion, any more divine or more sacred that other diseases, but has a natural cause, and its supposed divine origin is due to men's inexperience, and to their wonder at its peculiar character.” MenCharacterCausesNaturalWonderOpinionDivineDiseaseSacredDuesPeculiarInexperience Book:Hippocrates Source: Hippocrates
“If people are constantly falling off a cliff, you could place ambulances under the cliff or build a fence on the top of the cliff. We are placing all too many ambulances under the cliff.” PeopleIfsFallDiseaseFenceCliffsFalling OffAmbulanceFalling Off A Cliff Author:Denis Parsons Burkitt
“In acute diseases the physician must conduct his inquiries in the following way. First he must examine the face of the patient, and see whether it is like the faces of healthy people, and especially whether it is like its usual self. Such likeness will be the best sign, and the greatest unlikeness will be the most dangerous sign. The latter will be as follows. Nose sharp, eyes hollow, temples sunken, ears cold and contracted with their lobes turned outwards, the skin about the face hard and tense and parched, the colour of the face as a whole being yellow or black.” PeopleWayFirstsSelfHardWholeEyeFacesBlackDangerousColdHealthyDiseaseSkinsEarsPatientFollowingNosesColourBeing The BestLatterTemplesYellowUsualPhysiciansInquiryHollowTenseSharp Eyes Author:Hippocrates
“Man is still by instinct a predatory animal given to devilish aggression. The discoveries of science have immensely increased productivity of material things. They have increased the standards of living and comfort. They have eliminated infinite drudgery. They have increased leisure. But that gives more time for devilment. The work of science has eliminated much disease and suffering. It has increased the length of life. That, together with increase in productivity, has resulted in vastly increased populations. Also it increased the number of people engaged in devilment.” PeopleMenLifeGivingStillsTogetherScienceSufferingGivenAnimalNumbersMaterialsComfortDiseaseStandardsDiscoveryIncreaseInfiniteInstinctPopulationProductivityEngagedLengthMore TimeLeisureAggressionStandards Of LivingMaterial ThingsDrudgeryPredatoryDevilishLength Of Life Author:Herbert Hoover
“My crystal ball or intuition tells me that in the '80s the impact of RIA [radioimmunoassay] on the study of infectious diseases may prove as revolutionary as its impact on endocrinology in the 60s.” MayStudyProveDiseaseBallsImpactIntuitionRevolutionary80sCrystalsInfectious DiseasesCrystal Ball Author:Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
“People ask me often [whether] the Nobel Prize [was] the thing you were aiming for all your life, and I say that would be crazy. Nobody would aim for a Nobel Prize because, if you didn't get it, your whole life would be wasted. What we were aiming at was getting people well, and the satisfaction of that is much greater than any prize you can get.” PeopleIfsWellsWholeWould BeAsksGreaterCrazyDiseaseAimSatisfactionWhole LifeAsk MePrizeNobelNobel PrizeBeing Crazy Author:Gertrude B. Elion
“That was the turning point. It was as though the signal was there, 'This is the disease you're going to have to work against.' I never really stopped to think about anything else. It was that sudden.” ThinkingDiseaseSignalsTurning Points Author:Gertrude B. Elion