--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A physician's physiology has much the…" description: "\"A physician's physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a cleric's divinity has to his power of influencing conduct.\" — Samuel B..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/samuel-butler-823_cleric_a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-sa_2712494.jpg" --- # A physician's physiology has much the same relation to his… ![“A physician's physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a cleric's divinity has to his power of influencing conduct.” quote by Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/samuel-butler-823_cleric_a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-sa_2712494.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/samuel-butler-823_cleric_a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-sa_2712494.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/samuel-butler-823_cleric_a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-sa_2712494.jpg) > “A physician's physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a cleric's divinity has to his power of influencing conduct.” [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A physician’s technical knowledge underpins his healing ability just as a cleric’s spiritual authority underpins his influence over behavior. **In simple terms:** Expertise fuels professional power. Key Takeaway Develop deep knowledge to enhance effectiveness. Themes expertise authority influence professionalism healing Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - clinical practice - spiritual counseling - leadership training - public health policy Key Concepts medicine theology social hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - How does expertise translate to trust? - When can authority become detached from compassion? A Different Perspective Relying solely on expertise may neglect empathy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cleric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cleric/) [Cleric Divinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cleric-divinity-2818417/) [Divinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divinity/) [Divinity Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divinity-power-2818418/) [Doctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctor/) [Healing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healing/) [Healing Cleric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healing-cleric-2818416/) [Medical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Physician Physiology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physician-physiology-2818419/) [Physiology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physiology/) [Relation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relation/) ## Related quotes > [A cleric who loses his faith abandons his calling; a philosopher who loses his redefines his subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gellner/a-cleric-who-loses-his-faith-abandons-his-calling-a-philosopher-who/) [Ernest Gellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gellner/) > [“Although I admired scholarship so much in Cleric, I was not deceived about myself; I knew that I should never be a scholar. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/although-i-admired-scholarship-so-much-in-cleric-i-was-not-deceived/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [It's hard to say who's a greater threat to the world, an ambitious CEO with a big ad budget or a crafty cleric with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/it-s-hard-to-say-who-s-a-greater-threat-to-the-world-an-ambitious-ceo/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Most priests wish they were as righteous as they seem to most members of their congregations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-priests-wish-they-were-as-righteous-as-they-seem-to-most-members/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Ever since he repented of religion and shaved off his clerical beard and mustache, he has had the constant feeling that he has taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/ever-since-he-repented-of-religion-and-shaved-off-his-clerical-beard/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [Shun, as you would the plague, a cleric who from being poor has become wealthy, or who, from being nobody has become a celebrity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/shun-as-you-would-the-plague-a-cleric-who-from-being-poor-has-become/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [Some cleric putting a match to her. /Neither of them looks happy about it. /Once lit, she'll burn like a book, /like a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/some-cleric-putting-a-match-to-her-neither-of-them-looks-happy-about/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“We look wishfully to emergencies, to eventful, revolutionary times...and think how easy to have taken our part when the drum was rolling and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-kynock/we-look-wishfully-to-emergencies-to-eventful-revolutionary-times-and/) [Mitch Kynock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-kynock/) > [Every cleric must obey the Pope, even if he commands what is evil; for no one may judge the Pope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-innocent-iii/every-cleric-must-obey-the-pope-even-if-he-commands-what-is-evil-for/) [Pope Innocent III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-innocent-iii/) > [“This particular May morning begins with the appearance of a procession on the corner of Pancake and Rosa Luxemburg Streets. The procession is evidently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/this-particular-may-morning-begins-with-the-appearance-of-a/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“I can taste fear, and lies, on a man's skin, Cavrax." The Master Priest whispered, watching the large pulse on the cleric's neck beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-n-faust/i-can-taste-fear-and-lies-on-a-man-s-skin-cavrax-the-master-priest/) [C.N. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-n-faust/) > [“...new prejudices will serve as well as old ones to harness the great unthinking masses. For this enlightenment, however, nothing is required but freedom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/new-prejudices-will-serve-as-well-as-old-ones-to-harness-the-great/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Descriptive anatomy is to physiology what geography is to history, and just as it is not enough to know the typography of a country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/descriptive-anatomy-is-to-physiology-what-geography-is-to-history-and/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [“The basic sciences of anatomy, physiology, biology, and chemistry are linked to a patient at the bedside through very specific stories that doctors learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-sanders/the-basic-sciences-of-anatomy-physiology-biology-and-chemistry-are/) [Lisa Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-sanders/) > [Fly flight is just a great phenomenon to study. It has everything - from the most sophisticated sensory biology; really, really interesting physics; really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dickinson/fly-flight-is-just-a-great-phenomenon-to-study-it-has-everything-from/) [Michael Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dickinson/) ## More by Samuel Butler > [Is life worth living? This is a question for an embryo not for a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/is-life-worth-living-this-is-a-question-for-an-embryo-not-for-a-man/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [I am the enfant terrible of literature and science. If I cannot, and I know I cannot, get the literary and scientific bigwigs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/i-am-the-enfant-terrible-of-literature-and-science-if-i-cannot-and-i/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-you-follow-reason-far-enough-it-always-leads-to-conclusions-that/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/all-animals-except-man-know-that-the-principal-business-of-life-is-to/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-advantage-of-doing-one-s-praising-for-oneself-is-that-one-can-lay/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Spare the rod and spoil the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Opinions have vested interests just as men have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/opinions-have-vested-interests-just-as-men-have/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“we must judge men not so much by what they, as by what they make us feel that they have it in them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/we-must-judge-men-not-so-much-by-what-they-as-by-what-they-make-us/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-i-die-prematurely-i-shall-be-saved-from-being-bored-to-death-at-my/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism. Whether it is or is not more efficacious I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/vaccination-is-the-medical-sacrament-corresponding-to-baptism-whether/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“Having, then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/having-then-once-introduced-an-element-of-inconsistency-into-his/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Brigands demand your money or your life; women require both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/brigands-demand-your-money-or-your-life-women-require-both/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [A man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-man-who-lets-himself-be-bored-is-even-more-contemptible-than-the/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [It is not sufficiently considered in the hour of exultation, that all human excellence is comparative; that no man performs much but in proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-is-not-sufficiently-considered-in-the-hour-of-exultation-that-all/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-oldest-books-are-still-only-just-out-to-those-who-have-not-read/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) [Explore all 355 Samuel Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## More Cleric quotes > [“...new prejudices will serve as well as old ones to harness the great unthinking masses. For this enlightenment, however, nothing is required but freedom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/new-prejudices-will-serve-as-well-as-old-ones-to-harness-the-great/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“I can taste fear, and lies, on a man's skin, Cavrax." The Master Priest whispered, watching the large pulse on the cleric's neck beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-n-faust/i-can-taste-fear-and-lies-on-a-man-s-skin-cavrax-the-master-priest/) [C.N. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-n-faust/) > [“This particular May morning begins with the appearance of a procession on the corner of Pancake and Rosa Luxemburg Streets. The procession is evidently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/this-particular-may-morning-begins-with-the-appearance-of-a/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [Every cleric must obey the Pope, even if he commands what is evil; for no one may judge the Pope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-innocent-iii/every-cleric-must-obey-the-pope-even-if-he-commands-what-is-evil-for/) [Pope Innocent III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-innocent-iii/) > [“We look wishfully to emergencies, to eventful, revolutionary times...and think how easy to have taken our part when the drum was rolling and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-kynock/we-look-wishfully-to-emergencies-to-eventful-revolutionary-times-and/) [Mitch Kynock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-kynock/) > [Some cleric putting a match to her. /Neither of them looks happy about it. /Once lit, she'll burn like a book, /like a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/some-cleric-putting-a-match-to-her-neither-of-them-looks-happy-about/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Shun, as you would the plague, a cleric who from being poor has become wealthy, or who, from being nobody has become a celebrity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/shun-as-you-would-the-plague-a-cleric-who-from-being-poor-has-become/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [“Ever since he repented of religion and shaved off his clerical beard and mustache, he has had the constant feeling that he has taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/ever-since-he-repented-of-religion-and-shaved-off-his-clerical-beard/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“Most priests wish they were as righteous as they seem to most members of their congregations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-priests-wish-they-were-as-righteous-as-they-seem-to-most-members/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [It's hard to say who's a greater threat to the world, an ambitious CEO with a big ad budget or a crafty cleric with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/it-s-hard-to-say-who-s-a-greater-threat-to-the-world-an-ambitious-ceo/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Although I admired scholarship so much in Cleric, I was not deceived about myself; I knew that I should never be a scholar. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/although-i-admired-scholarship-so-much-in-cleric-i-was-not-deceived/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [A cleric who loses his faith abandons his calling; a philosopher who loses his redefines his subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gellner/a-cleric-who-loses-his-faith-abandons-his-calling-a-philosopher-who/) [Ernest Gellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gellner/) [Browse all 13 Cleric quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cleric/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A physician's physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a cleric's divinity has to his power of influencing conduct.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Butler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-same-relation-to-his-power-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cleric" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-same-relation-to-his-power-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/samuel-butler-823_cleric_a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-sa_2712494.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/samuel-butler-823_cleric_a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-sa_2712494.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/samuel-butler-823_cleric_a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-sa_2712494.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A physician's physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a cleric's divinity has to…” — Samuel Butler", "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": "Samuel Butler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A physician's physiology has much the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-same-relation-to-his-power-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-physician-s-physiology-has-much-the-same-relation-to-his-power-of/#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 } } ] } ```