--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: First try all other means, but if the…" description: "\"First try all other means, but if the wound Heal not, then use the knife, lest to the clean From the diseased the canker spread.\" — Ovid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbd/ovid-276_clean_first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wou_1285222.png" --- # First try all other means, but if the wound Heal not, then… ![“First try all other means, but if the wound Heal not, then use the knife, lest to the clean From the diseased the canker spread.” quote by Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbd/ovid-276_clean_first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wou_1285222.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbd/ovid-276_clean_first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wou_1285222.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbd/ovid-276_clean_first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wou_1285222.png) > “First try all other means, but if the wound Heal not, then use the knife, lest to the clean From the diseased the canker spread.” [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If all remedies fail, resort to drastic measures to prevent further disease spread. **In simple terms:** When healing fails, use a radical solution to stop the problem. Key Takeaway Consider decisive action when gentler options fail. Themes medicine ethics decision‑making risk urgency Mood cautionary thought‑provoking Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - Medical treatment - public health crises - personal health decisions Key Concepts intervention hierarchy preventive care ethical dilemmas Questions to Reflect On - When is it justified to take extreme steps? - What are the risks of inaction? A Different Perspective Harsh measures can cause collateral damage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Canker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canker-1559163/) [Canker Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canker-spread-4167857/) [Clean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clean/) [Diseased](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diseased/) [Diseased Canker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diseased-canker-4167858/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Heal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heal/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Infection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infection/) [Knife Lest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knife-lest-4167859/) [Knives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knives/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spread/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Use Knife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-knife-847626/) [Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/) ## Related quotes > [If you want to kill yourself, do not use us as your knife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/if-you-want-to-kill-yourself-do-not-use-us-as-your-knife/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“So long as you use a knife, there's some love left.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/so-long-as-you-use-a-knife-there-s-some-love-left/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [U gotta wonder about the people cutting themselves do the smarts use the small blade and live or r they the dumb ones do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrcountry/u-gotta-wonder-about-the-people-cutting-themselves-do-the-smarts-use/) [MrCountry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mrcountry/) > [As long as I hold it as long as I use it, the knife lives, lives in order to take life, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/as-long-as-i-hold-it-as-long-as-i-use-it-the-knife-lives-lives-in/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [Many comedians consider themselves to be cutting edge. But why do we have to use the knife for the analogy. Let's use the spoon.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-regan/many-comedians-consider-themselves-to-be-cutting-edge-but-why-do-we/) [Brian Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-regan/) > [“I learned how to do that from him, how to use a knife gracefully like it's an extension of my limb. I just use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-darhower/i-learned-how-to-do-that-from-him-how-to-use-a-knife-gracefully-like/) [J.M. Darhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-darhower/) > [“some kill their love when they are young, and some when they are old; some strangle with the hands of lust, some with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/some-kill-their-love-when-they-are-young-and-some-when-they-are-old/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [If I was a serial killer I'd use my knife to make strangers kiss in front of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/if-i-was-a-serial-killer-i-d-use-my-knife-to-make-strangers-kiss-in/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [The only use for a knife during a shark attack is pure treachery: Stab your buddy, swim like hell, and hope the munchies take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/the-only-use-for-a-knife-during-a-shark-attack-is-pure-treachery-stab/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [When love becomes a canker sores are healed burn time \|](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/when-love-becomes-a-canker-sores-are-healed-burn-time/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/loathsome-canker-lives-in-sweetest-bud/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [You're an obnoxious canker-blossom. Go ooze somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/you-re-an-obnoxious-canker-blossom-go-ooze-somewhere-else/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [Pity that gold should always bring with it the canker - covetousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-fern/pity-that-gold-should-always-bring-with-it-the-canker-covetousness/) [Fanny Fern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-fern/) > [“When you behold an aspect for whose constant gloom and frown you cannot account, whose unvarying cloud exasperates you by its apparent causelessness, be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/when-you-behold-an-aspect-for-whose-constant-gloom-and-frown-you/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The canker which the trunk conceals is revealed by the leaves, the fruit, or the flower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/the-canker-which-the-trunk-conceals-is-revealed-by-the-leaves-the/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) ## More by Ovid > [Every woman thinks herself attractive; even the plainest is satisfied with the charms she deems that she possesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/every-woman-thinks-herself-attractive-even-the-plainest-is-satisfied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Time is generally the best doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-is-generally-the-best-doctor/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-convenient-that-there-be-gods-and-as-it-is-convenient-let-us/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish; Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly; So to the brave man every land's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-sea-s-vast-depths-lie-open-to-the-fish-wherever-the-breezes-blow/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Rare is the virtue that's not ruled by Fortune, That stands unshaken even when Fortune flees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/rare-is-the-virtue-that-s-not-ruled-by-fortune-that-stands-unshaken/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/thus-all-things-altered-nothing-dies-and-here-and-there-the-unbodied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/how-little-is-the-promise-of-the-child-fulfilled-in-the-man/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Judgement of beauty can err, what with the wine and the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/judgement-of-beauty-can-err-what-with-the-wine-and-the-dark/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Leave war to others; 'tis Protesilaus' part of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/leave-war-to-others-tis-protesilaus-part-of-love/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Remove but the temptations of leisure, and the bow of Cupid will lose its effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/remove-but-the-temptations-of-leisure-and-the-bow-of-cupid-will-lose/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) [Explore all 771 Ovid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## More Clean quotes > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/we-cannot-go-back-in-time-and-change-the-past-but-we-can-repent-the/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [ I walked all around it \[the Guggenheim Bilbao\] and couldn't find one clear, clean shot. To make things worse, the weather was lousy. Nothing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-polidori/i-walked-all-around-it-the-guggenheim-bilbao-and-couldn-t-find-one/) [Robert Polidori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-polidori/) > [There's nothing harder than making a mellow, clean record. It's really scary. I can see why people would never want to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ty-segall/there-s-nothing-harder-than-making-a-mellow-clean-record-it-s-really/) [Ty Segall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ty-segall/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [There is one, and only one solution, and we have almost no time to try it. We must turn all our resources to repairing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/there-is-one-and-only-one-solution-and-we-have-almost-no-time-to-try/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [The sugar maple is remarkable for its clean ankle. The groves of these trees looked like vast forest sheds, their branches stoppingshort at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-sugar-maple-is-remarkable-for-its-clean-ankle-the-groves-of-these/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [America should be leading the world in green and clean solutions, and human rights. We shouldn't be leading the world in wars and incarceration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/america-should-be-leading-the-world-in-green-and-clean-solutions-and/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [At 62, I remain clean and sober and my ponytail remains erect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/at-62-i-remain-clean-and-sober-and-my-ponytail-remains-erect/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) > [Water is a cure-all. Water is everything. You can't get better without drinking lots of water, and you can't drink water unless it's clean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/water-is-a-cure-all-water-is-everything-you-can-t-get-better-without/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) > [The worthiness of any cause is not measured by its clean record, but by its readiness to see the blots when they are pointed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/the-worthiness-of-any-cause-is-not-measured-by-its-clean-record-but/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [I like to always wash the slate clean, and reinvigorate my spirit to be connected to the characters that I am doing. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giancarlo-esposito/i-like-to-always-wash-the-slate-clean-and-reinvigorate-my-spirit-to/) [Giancarlo Esposito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giancarlo-esposito/) > [There's a whole journalistic-industrial complex dedicated to keeping newsprint, TV screens and radio waves clean of destabilizing scoops damaging to corporations or the state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/there-s-a-whole-journalistic-industrial-complex-dedicated-to-keeping/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [Night fell clean and cold in Dublin, and wind moaned beyond my room as if a million pipes played the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-cornwell/night-fell-clean-and-cold-in-dublin-and-wind-moaned-beyond-my-room-as/) [Patricia Cornwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-cornwell/) [Browse all 2,503 Clean quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clean/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "First try all other means, but if the wound Heal not, then use the knife, lest to the clean From the diseased the canker spread.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ovid" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wound-heal-not-then-use-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Clean" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wound-heal-not-then-use-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbd/ovid-276_clean_first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wou_1285222.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbd/ovid-276_clean_first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wou_1285222.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbd/ovid-276_clean_first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wou_1285222.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“First try all other means, but if the wound Heal not, then use the knife, lest to the clean From the…” — Ovid", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Ovid", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "First try all other means, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wound-heal-not-then-use-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/first-try-all-other-means-but-if-the-wound-heal-not-then-use-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```