---
title: "2 Person Knew Quotes By Paul Kalanithi"
description: "2 Person Knew quotes by Paul Kalanithi. Plus more from Paul Kalanithi and more Person Knew sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/paul-kalanithi-5204_death_i-acted-not-as-i-most-often-did-as-death_472685.jpg"
---

> [“I acted not, as I most often did, as death’s enemy, but as its ambassador. I had to help those families understand that the person they knew—the full, vital independent human—now lived only in the past and that I needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/i-acted-not-as-i-most-often-did-as-death-s-enemy-but-as-its/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/paul-kalanithi-5204_death_i-acted-not-as-i-most-often-did-as-death_472685.jpg)

> [“I had to help those families understand that the person they knew—the full, vital independent human—now lived only in the past and that I needed their input to understand what sort of future he or she would want: an easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/i-had-to-help-those-families-understand-that-the-person-they-knew-the/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/paul-kalanithi-5204_death_i-had-to-help-those-families-understand_2259175.jpg)

## More by Paul Kalanithi

> [“operative risk, it was the best kind of tumor to have, and the best place to have it; surgery would almost certainly eliminate her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/operative-risk-it-was-the-best-kind-of-tumor-to-have-and-the-best/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“If the unexamined life was not worth living, was the unlived life worth examining?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/if-the-unexamined-life-was-not-worth-living-was-the-unlived-life/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“Yet the paradox is that scientific methodology is the product of human hands and thus cannot reach some permanent truth. We build scientific theories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/yet-the-paradox-is-that-scientific-methodology-is-the-product-of/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“...but every day felt full of life, and of the relationships that give life meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/but-every-day-felt-full-of-life-and-of-the-relationships-that-give/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“I struggled, while facing my own death, to rebuild my old life—or perhaps find a new one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/i-struggled-while-facing-my-own-death-to-rebuild-my-old-life-or/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“My imagined future and my personal identity collapsed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/my-imagined-future-and-my-personal-identity-collapsed/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“I had come to see language as an almost supernatural force, existing between people,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/i-had-come-to-see-language-as-an-almost-supernatural-force-existing/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“When a patient comes in with a fatal head bleed, that first conversation with a neurosurgeon may forever color how the family remembers the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/when-a-patient-comes-in-with-a-fatal-head-bleed-that-first/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“To the east, the full light of day beamed toward you; to the west, night reigned with no hint of surrender. No philosopher can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/to-the-east-the-full-light-of-day-beamed-toward-you-to-the-west-night/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“I acted not, as I most often did, as death’s enemy, but as its ambassador. I had to help those families understand that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/i-acted-not-as-i-most-often-did-as-death-s-enemy-but-as-its/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“A scan showed that a benign brain tumor was pressing on her right frontal lobe. In terms of operative risk, it was the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/a-scan-showed-that-a-benign-brain-tumor-was-pressing-on-her-right/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“Now more than ever, you have to be there for each other. I don’t want either of you staying up all night at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/now-more-than-ever-you-have-to-be-there-for-each-other-i-don-t-want/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“The funny thing about time in the OR, whether you race frenetically or proceed steadily, is that you have no sense of it passing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/the-funny-thing-about-time-in-the-or-whether-you-race-frenetically-or/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“Learn to be fast now. You can learn to be good later.” In the OR, everyone’s eyes are always on the clock. For the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/learn-to-be-fast-now-you-can-learn-to-be-good-later-in-the-or/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

> [“I felt that the last thing he needed was the obligation to service a new friendship.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/i-felt-that-the-last-thing-he-needed-was-the-obligation-to-service-a/)

[Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/)

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