“Death, of course, is not a failure. Death is normal. Death may be the enemy, but it is also the natural order… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
If the conversation people think is coming is the 'death panel' conversation, that's a total failure. — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
Arriving at an acceptance of one's mortality is a process, not an epiphany. — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
The battle of being mortal is the battle to maintain the integrity of one’s life, — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
I learned about a lot of things in medical school, but mortality wasn't one of them. — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“In other words, our decision making in medicine has failed so spectacularly that we have reached the point of actively inflicting harm… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
The definition of what it means to be dying has changed radically. We are able to extend people's lives considerably, including sometimes,… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“All the same I fear what happens when we expand the terrain of medical practice to include actively assisting people with speeding… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
Our reluctance to honestly examine the experience of aging and dying has increased the harm we inflict on people and denied them… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“In other words, our decision making in medicine has failed so spectacularly that we have reached the point of actively inflicting harm… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“A large part of the task is helping people negotiate the overwhelming anxiety—anxiety about death, anxiety about suffering, anxiety about loved ones,… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“We know the dance moves. You agree to become a patient, and I, the clinician, agree to try to fix you, whatever… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“Technological society has forgotten what scholars call the “dying role” and its importance to people as life approaches its end. People want… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“The simple view is that medicine exists to fight death and disease, and that is, of course, its most basic task. Death… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“I am leery of suggesting the idea that endings are controllable. No one ever really has control. Physics and biology and accident… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
“Consider the fact that we care deeply about what happens to the world after we die. If self-interests were the primary source… — Atul Gawande Copy Share Image
Don’t let yourself be. Find something new to try, something to change. Count how often it succeeds and how often it doesn’t. Write about… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
“Wilson spent several days camped out in one government office after another until she had secured an exemption. Unbelievably, she and her husband cleared… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
What is needed, however, isn't just that people working together be nice to each other. It is discipline. Discipline is hard--harder than trustworthiness and… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
“8. Chapter 4 describes the birth of the assisted-living facility concept (Park Place), designed by Keren Wilson to provide her disabled mother, Jessie, with… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
When we lived in a society where we had large families that lived together, especially in agricultural societies like my grandfather and father grew… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
My biggest fear, that 27 percent of Americans under 65 have an existing health condition that, without the protections of the Affordable Care Act,… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
“..how we seek to spend our time may depend on how much time we perceive ourselves to have. When you are young and healthy,… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
“I cannot pretend he escaped unscathed. The extended period of low blood pressure damaged an optic nerve and left him essentially blind in one… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
The battle of being mortal is the battle to maintain the integrity of one’s life, — Atul Gawande Copy Share
“an average of $94,000 during the last year of life with a metastatic breast cancer. Our medical system is excellent at trying to stave… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
“we need practice to get good at what we do. There is one difference in medicine, though: it is people we practice upon.” — Atul Gawande Copy Share
People underestimate the importance of dilligence as a virtue. No doubt it has something to do with how supremely mundane it seems. It is… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
Developing a skill is painful, though. It is difficult. And that's part of the satisfaction. You will only find meaning in what you struggle… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
Just look at the list of who the lowest-paid people are. Pediatricians are at the bottom. You would also look at internists. You would… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
“When Felix came to this crossroads, the orthopedic shoe to drop wasn’t his. It was Bella’s. Year by year, I witnessed the progression in… — Atul Gawande Copy Share
