--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Learn to be fast now. You can learn to be…" description: "\"“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 patient’s sake: How long has he bee..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e5/paul-kalanithi-5204_anesthesia_learn-to-be-fast-now-you-can-learn-to-be_553484.jpg" --- # Learn to be fast now. You can learn to be good later.” In… ![“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 patient’s sake: How long has he been under anesthesia? During long procedures, nerves can get damaged, muscles can break down, kidneys can fail. For everyone else’s sake: What time…” quote by Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e5/paul-kalanithi-5204_anesthesia_learn-to-be-fast-now-you-can-learn-to-be_553484.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e5/paul-kalanithi-5204_anesthesia_learn-to-be-fast-now-you-can-learn-to-be_553484.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e5/paul-kalanithi-5204_anesthesia_learn-to-be-fast-now-you-can-learn-to-be_553484.jpg) > ““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 patient’s sake: How long has he been under anesthesia? During long procedures, nerves can get damaged, muscles can break down, kidneys can fail. For everyone else’s sake: What time are we getting out of here tonight?”” [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Speed is essential in critical care, but quality and safety must follow; urgency should not compromise patient outcomes. **In simple terms:** Act fast, then ensure quality later. Key Takeaway Prioritize both speed and safety. Themes medicine ethics urgency Mood tense focused Type clinical ethical When to use this quote - emergency surgery - intensive care - trauma care Key Concepts patient safety time management clinical decision making Questions to Reflect On - How can teams balance speed with thoroughness? - What protocols protect patients under pressure? A Different Perspective Rushing can increase errors and harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) ## Related quotes > [Going through the hard times now to enjoy the good later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/going-through-the-hard-times-now-to-enjoy-the-good-later/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If an artist is any good at all, then he or she will have a later phase that's more interesting than the early one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/if-an-artist-is-any-good-at-all-then-he-or-she-will-have-a-later/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [I dont know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, its always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-dont-know-where-the-idea-originated-that-memoir-writing-is/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [“Pain is a Medical Orphan. Perhaps because it has traditionally been considered the consequence of disease or injury, not an illness in itself, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-jay-przybylo/pain-is-a-medical-orphan-perhaps-because-it-has-traditionally-been/) Henry Jay Przybylo > [Why does the longing for love have to be so acute, like a desperate thirst? Is it because love is wanting to be saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-hull/why-does-the-longing-for-love-have-to-be-so-acute-like-a-desperate/) [Jonathan Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-hull/) > [To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia - to mistake an ordinary young woman for a goddess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-be-in-love-is-merely-to-be-in-a-state-of-perceptual-anesthesia-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Anesthesia before anesthesia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alla/anesthesia-before-anesthesia/) [Alla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alla/) > [To write poetry, like sincere poetry, it is like performing heart surgery on yourself without anesthesia...in public...You are peeling back layers. You are dissecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amir-sulaiman/to-write-poetry-like-sincere-poetry-it-is-like-performing-heart/) Amir Sulaiman > [I don't know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, it's always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-don-t-know-where-the-idea-originated-that-memoir-writing-is/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [“I asked her, dreamily, if we had met, and when she told me that we had not, I gave her a little finger wave,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-asked-her-dreamily-if-we-had-met-and-when-she-told-me-that-we-had/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [Everyone agrees that animals should not be exposed to unnecessary pain. But neither should scientists be hamstrung by the requirement to use anesthesia in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/everyone-agrees-that-animals-should-not-be-exposed-to-unnecessary/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [People don't become inured to what they are shown - if that's the right way to describe what happens - because of the quantity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/people-don-t-become-inured-to-what-they-are-shown-if-that-s-the-right/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“When Dr. James Young Simpson sought to apply anesthesia to a woman in childbirth, the clergymen of his day foamed at the mouth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lewis/when-dr-james-young-simpson-sought-to-apply-anesthesia-to-a-woman-in/) [Joseph Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lewis/) > [I used to like the anesthesia. It was like my favorite part of the whole thing, the 10 seconds before you go out. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-iaquinta/i-used-to-like-the-anesthesia-it-was-like-my-favorite-part-of-the/) [Al Iaquinta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-iaquinta/) > [“Shaw also said, alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-finn/shaw-also-said-alcohol-is-the-anesthesia-by-which-we-endure-the/) [A.J. Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-finn/) ## 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/) > [“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/) > [“The word hope first appeared in English about a thousand years ago, denoting some combination of confidence and desire. But what I desired—life—was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/the-word-hope-first-appeared-in-english-about-a-thousand-years-ago/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) [Explore all 100 Paul Kalanithi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) ## More Anesthesia quotes > [“Shaw also said, alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-finn/shaw-also-said-alcohol-is-the-anesthesia-by-which-we-endure-the/) [A.J. Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-finn/) > [I used to like the anesthesia. It was like my favorite part of the whole thing, the 10 seconds before you go out. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-iaquinta/i-used-to-like-the-anesthesia-it-was-like-my-favorite-part-of-the/) [Al Iaquinta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-iaquinta/) > [“When Dr. James Young Simpson sought to apply anesthesia to a woman in childbirth, the clergymen of his day foamed at the mouth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lewis/when-dr-james-young-simpson-sought-to-apply-anesthesia-to-a-woman-in/) [Joseph Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lewis/) > [People don't become inured to what they are shown - if that's the right way to describe what happens - because of the quantity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/people-don-t-become-inured-to-what-they-are-shown-if-that-s-the-right/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Everyone agrees that animals should not be exposed to unnecessary pain. But neither should scientists be hamstrung by the requirement to use anesthesia in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/everyone-agrees-that-animals-should-not-be-exposed-to-unnecessary/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [“I asked her, dreamily, if we had met, and when she told me that we had not, I gave her a little finger wave,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-asked-her-dreamily-if-we-had-met-and-when-she-told-me-that-we-had/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [I don't know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, it's always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-don-t-know-where-the-idea-originated-that-memoir-writing-is/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [To write poetry, like sincere poetry, it is like performing heart surgery on yourself without anesthesia...in public...You are peeling back layers. You are dissecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amir-sulaiman/to-write-poetry-like-sincere-poetry-it-is-like-performing-heart/) Amir Sulaiman > [Anesthesia before anesthesia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alla/anesthesia-before-anesthesia/) [Alla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alla/) > [To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia - to mistake an ordinary young woman for a goddess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-be-in-love-is-merely-to-be-in-a-state-of-perceptual-anesthesia-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Why does the longing for love have to be so acute, like a desperate thirst? Is it because love is wanting to be saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-hull/why-does-the-longing-for-love-have-to-be-so-acute-like-a-desperate/) [Jonathan Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-hull/) > [“Pain is a Medical Orphan. Perhaps because it has traditionally been considered the consequence of disease or injury, not an illness in itself, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-jay-przybylo/pain-is-a-medical-orphan-perhaps-because-it-has-traditionally-been/) Henry Jay Przybylo > [I dont know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, its always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-dont-know-where-the-idea-originated-that-memoir-writing-is/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [Maybe honeymoons are God's anesthesia. Like the "laughing gas" used by dentists, perhaps honeymoons are designed to protect us from a bit of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-thoele/maybe-honeymoons-are-god-s-anesthesia-like-the-laughing-gas-used-by/) [Sue Thoele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-thoele/) > [Fantasy, at its best, is balm for the soul. But it is faulty logic to assume that balm is necessarily mind-numbing anesthesia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/fantasy-at-its-best-is-balm-for-the-soul-but-it-is-faulty-logic-to/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) Browse all 55 Anesthesia quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“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 patient’s sake: How long has he been under anesthesia? During long procedures, nerves can get damaged, muscles can break down, kidneys can fail. 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