--- title: "1 Mouth Close Quotes By Richard Selzer" description: "1 Mouth Close quotes by Richard Selzer. Plus more from Richard Selzer and more Mouth Close sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09b/richard-selzer-27753_young-man_i-stand-by-the-bed-where-a-young-woman-l_2815603.jpg" --- > [“I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth has been severed. She will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/i-stand-by-the-bed-where-a-young-woman-lies-her-face-postoperative/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09b/richard-selzer-27753_young-man_i-stand-by-the-bed-where-a-young-woman-l_2815603.jpg) ## More by Richard Selzer > [You cannot separate passion from pathology any more than you can separate a person's spirit from his body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/you-cannot-separate-passion-from-pathology-any-more-than-you-can/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [And If the surgeon is like a poet, then the scars you have made on countless bodies are like verses into the fashioning of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/and-if-the-surgeon-is-like-a-poet-then-the-scars-you-have-made-on/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [If I quit surgery, I'd be afraid I'd dry up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/if-i-quit-surgery-i-d-be-afraid-i-d-dry-up/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [Thus is the fruit of the Earth taken, its flesh torn. Thus is it given over standing, toward rot. It is the principle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/thus-is-the-fruit-of-the-earth-taken-its-flesh-torn-thus-is-it-given/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [A minor operation is one that is done on someone else](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/a-minor-operation-is-one-that-is-done-on-someone-else/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [You do not die all at once. Some tissues live on for minutes, even hours, giving still their little cellular shrieks, molecular echoes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/you-do-not-die-all-at-once-some-tissues-live-on-for-minutes-even/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [“You will see at precisely what moment the writer ceases to think of his character as an instrument to be manipulated and think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/you-will-see-at-precisely-what-moment-the-writer-ceases-to-think-of/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [Autopsies give us the facts but not the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/autopsies-give-us-the-facts-but-not-the-truth/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [I never intended to become a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/i-never-intended-to-become-a-writer/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [The liver, that great maroon snail: No wave of emotion sweeps it. Neither music nor mathematics gives it pause in its appointed tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/the-liver-that-great-maroon-snail-no-wave-of-emotion-sweeps-it/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [Surgery is the red flower that blooms among the leaves and thorns that are the rest of medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/surgery-is-the-red-flower-that-blooms-among-the-leaves-and-thorns/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [If people understood that doctors weren't divine, perhaps the odor of malpractice might diminish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/if-people-understood-that-doctors-weren-t-divine-perhaps-the-odor-of/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [I contemplate the body, dead and diseased as well as alive and healthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/i-contemplate-the-body-dead-and-diseased-as-well-as-alive-and-healthy/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [The surgeon knows all the parts of the brain but he does not know his patient's dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/the-surgeon-knows-all-the-parts-of-the-brain-but-he-does-not-know-his/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [“There are no "great" subjects for the creative writer; there are only the singular details of a single human life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/there-are-no-great-subjects-for-the-creative-writer-there-are-only/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-close/richard-selzer/#itemlist", "name": "1 Mouth Close Quotes By Richard Selzer", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth has been severed. She will be thus from now on. The surgeon had followed with religious fervor the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor in her cheek, I had to cut the little nerve. Her young husband is in the room. He stand on the opposite side of the bed and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily? The young woman speaks, \"Will my mouth always be like this?\" she asks. \"Yes,\" I say, \"it will. It is because the nerve was cut.\" She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. \"I like it,\" he says, \"It is kind of cute.\" \"All at once I know who he is. I understand and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Selzer" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/i-stand-by-the-bed-where-a-young-woman-lies-her-face-postoperative/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09b/richard-selzer-27753_young-man_i-stand-by-the-bed-where-a-young-woman-l_2815603.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09b/richard-selzer-27753_young-man_i-stand-by-the-bed-where-a-young-woman-l_2815603.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09b/richard-selzer-27753_young-man_i-stand-by-the-bed-where-a-young-woman-l_2815603.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A…” — Richard Selzer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-close/richard-selzer/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-close/richard-selzer/", "name": "Mouth Close Quotes by Richard Selzer", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-close/richard-selzer/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09b/richard-selzer-27753_young-man_i-stand-by-the-bed-where-a-young-woman-l_2815603.jpg" }, "description": "1 Mouth Close quotes by Richard Selzer. Plus more from Richard Selzer and more Mouth Close sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-close/richard-selzer/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-close/richard-selzer/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Mouth Close", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-close/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Richard Selzer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-close/richard-selzer/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```