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Quote by Richard Selzer

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Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery

This book offers a profound look into the world of surgery, delving into the personal experiences and insights of a practicing surgeon. It examines the physical and psychological challenges faced by both patients and surgeons, providing a nuanced understanding of the art and science of surgery. more

Author

Richard Selzer
Richard Selzer

Richard Selzer, born on June 24, 1928, was an accomplished American author known for his diverse writing, which encompassed medicine, law, history, and literary criticism. Selzer was renowned for his unique narrative style and profound insights into human experience. more

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“I have suffered from being alone, but because I have been able to keep my secret I have overcome the suffering of loneliness. To go right to the end implies knowing how to keep one's secret. And, today, there is no greater joy than to live alone and unknown. My deepest joy is to write. To accept the world and to accept pleasure—but only when I am stripped bare of everything. I should not be worthy to love the bare and empty beaches if I could not remain naked in the presence of myself. For the first time I can understand the meaning of the word happiness without any ambiguity. It is a little different from what men normally mean when they say: 'i am happy.”

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“I simply have no business being in love and playing around with a girl, however innocently.... After all I am supposed to be a monk with a vow of chastity and though I have kept my vow—I wonder if I can keep it indefinitely and still play this gorgeous game!”

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“When the shadow of the sash appeared on the curtains it was between seven and eight oclock and then I was in time again, hearing the watch. It was Grandfather's and when father gave it to me he said I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire; it's rather excrutiating-ly apt that you will use it to gain the reducto absurdum of all of all human experience which can fit your individual needs no better than it fitted his and his father's. I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your trying to conquer it. Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.”

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