Skip to content

When I use the word 'healing,' by that I mean that every…

“When I use the word 'healing,' by that I mean that every disease has a physical element that we're very good at handling, but there's always a sense of the violation. 'Why me?' '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…” quote by Abraham Verghese
Download Open image
“When I use the word 'healing,' by that I mean that every disease has a physical element that we're very good at handling, but there's always a sense of the violation. 'Why me?' '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

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Medicine treats physical symptoms but often neglects the deeper spiritual distress caused by illness.

In simple terms: Healing must address both body and spirit.

Key Takeaway

Integrate spiritual care into medical practice.

Themes

health spirituality medicine

Mood

empathetic reflective

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

  • hospital stays
  • chronic illness
  • surgery recovery

Key Concepts

holistic care patient experience

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can clinicians recognize spiritual suffering?
  • What practices support spiritual healing?
A Different Perspective

Spiritual care can be hard to quantify and fund.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

More by Abraham Verghese

Explore all 230 Abraham Verghese quotes

More Broken quotes

Browse all 5,851 Broken quotes