Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Atul Gawande

Quote by Atul Gawande

“When there is no way of knowing exactly how long our skeins will run--and when we imagine ourselves to have much more time than we do--our every impulse is to fight, to die with chemo in our veins or a tube in our throats or fresh sutures in our flesh. The fact that we may be shortening or worsening the time we have left hardly seems to register. We imagine that we can wait until the doctors tell us that there is nothing more they can do. But rarely is there nothing more that doctors can do. They can give toxic drugs of unknown efficacy, operate to try to remove part of the tumor, put in a feeding tube if a person can't eat: there's always something. We want these choices. But that doesn't mean we are eager to make the choices ourselves. Instead, most often, we make no choice at all. We fall back on the default, and the default is: Do Something. Fix Something. Is there any way out of this?”

Quote by Atul Gawande

Work

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

In this insightful book, the author delves into the complexities of aging and the end of life, examining the intersection of medicine, ethics, and personal values. The narrative explores the challenges faced by patients, families, and healthcare providers as they navigate the final stages of life, emphasizing the need for meaningful conversations and the pursuit of a good quality of life. more

Author

Atul Gawande
Atul Gawande

Atul Gawande is a renowned American surgeon and writer. Born on November 5, 1965, in Mumbai, India, he immigrated to the United States. Gawande is known for his expertise in surgery and his profound insights into the healthcare system. His writings cover a range of topics from surgical techniques to medical ethics, and have been well-received by readers. more

You May Also Like

“Dying is really inconceivable in the way it comes about, even though it is easily predictable by the very nature of our existence. However, it is as though man does not believe in death. Even though he witnesses it, he conceives and recognizes it only at a safe distance to be able to ignore its threat of finality at his own peril and the peril of those he loves. It appears as though the “world of dying” around us is not sufficiently close to become emotionally acceptable (that’s why perhaps we live as though we will exist forever), and even the disappearance of our loved ones does not serve as a lesson of any sort.”