--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is all very fine, but it won't…" description: "\"This is all very fine, but it won't do-Anatomy-botany-Nonsense! Sir, I know an old woman in Covent Garden, who understands botany better, and as for an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29e/thomas-sydenham-23471_anatomy_this-is-all-very-fine-but-it-won-t-do-an_811716.jpg" --- # This is all very fine, but it won't… ![“This is all very fine, but it won't do-Anatomy-botany-Nonsense! Sir, I know an old woman in Covent Garden, who understands botany better, and as for anatomy, my butcher can dissect a joint full as well; no, young man, all that is stuff; you must go to the bedside, it is there alone you can learn…” quote by Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29e/thomas-sydenham-23471_anatomy_this-is-all-very-fine-but-it-won-t-do-an_811716.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29e/thomas-sydenham-23471_anatomy_this-is-all-very-fine-but-it-won-t-do-an_811716.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29e/thomas-sydenham-23471_anatomy_this-is-all-very-fine-but-it-won-t-do-an_811716.jpg) > “This is all very fine, but it won't do-Anatomy-botany-Nonsense! Sir, I know an old woman in Covent Garden, who understands botany better, and as for anatomy, my butcher can dissect a joint full as well; no, young man, all that is stuff; you must go to the bedside, it is there alone you can learn disease! Comment to Hans Sloane on Robert Boyle's letter of introduction describing Sloane as a 'ripe scholar, a good botanist, a skilful anatomist'.” [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that practical bedside observation, not theoretical study, is essential for truly understanding disease. **In simple terms:** Learn disease at the bedside. Key Takeaway Prioritize hands‑on experience. Themes medicine education practicality Mood inquisitive analytical Type didactic reflective When to use this quote - medical training - patient care - diagnostic practice Key Concepts clinical observation empirical learning Questions to Reflect On - How can theory and practice be balanced? - What limits arise from solely bedside learning? A Different Perspective Theoretical knowledge still underpins practice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anatomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anatomy/) [Botany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/botany/) [Covent garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/covent-garden/) [Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [Introduction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/introduction/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Scholar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scholar/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [Dont let your grandchildren read a lesson of Tree in History. Botany is better place for the Trees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/biman-gandhi/dont-let-your-grandchildren-read-a-lesson-of-tree-in-history-botany/) [Biman Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/biman-gandhi/) > [The leaf that spreads in the light is the only holiness there is. I haven't found holiness in the faiths of mortals, or in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kage-baker/the-leaf-that-spreads-in-the-light-is-the-only-holiness-there-is-i/) [Kage Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kage-baker/) > [“Robert Boyle, the English scientist largely responsible for the creation of the modern discipline of chemistry, interviewed miners in the 1670s in an attempt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-scott-poole/robert-boyle-the-english-scientist-largely-responsible-for-the/) W. Scott Poole ## More by Thomas Sydenham > [I confidently affirm that the greater part of those who are supposed to have died of gout, have died of the medicine rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/i-confidently-affirm-that-the-greater-part-of-those-who-are-supposed/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [Disease is nothing else but an attempt on the part of the body to rid itself of morbific matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/disease-is-nothing-else-but-an-attempt-on-the-part-of-the-body-to-rid/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [The arrival of a good clown exercises a more beneficial influence upon the health of a town than twenty asses laden with drugs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/the-arrival-of-a-good-clown-exercises-a-more-beneficial-influence/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [We may ascertain the worth of the human race, since for its sake God's Only-begotten Son became man, and thereby ennobled the nature that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/we-may-ascertain-the-worth-of-the-human-race-since-for-its-sake-god-s/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [We are overwhelmed as it is, with an infinite abundance of vaunted medicaments, and here they add another one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/we-are-overwhelmed-as-it-is-with-an-infinite-abundance-of-vaunted/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [For humble individuals like myself, there is one poor comfort, which is this, viz. that gout, unlike any other disease, kills more rich men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/for-humble-individuals-like-myself-there-is-one-poor-comfort-which-is/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [ Acute \[diseases\] meaning those of which God is the author, chronic meaning those that originate in ourselves. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/acute-diseases-meaning-those-of-which-god-is-the-author-chronic/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [Gout, unlike any other disease, kills more rich men than poor, more wise men than simple. Great kings, emperors, generals, admirals and philosophers have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/gout-unlike-any-other-disease-kills-more-rich-men-than-poor-more-wise/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [Lastly, he must remember that he himself hath no exemption from the common lot, but that he is bound by the same laws of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/lastly-he-must-remember-that-he-himself-hath-no-exemption-from-the/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [The art of medicine was to be properly learned only from its practice and its exercise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/the-art-of-medicine-was-to-be-properly-learned-only-from-its-practice/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [Gout produces calculus in the kidney... the patient has frequently to entertain the painful speculation as to whether gout or stone be the worst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/gout-produces-calculus-in-the-kidney-the-patient-has-frequently-to/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [The generality have considered that disease is but a confused and disordered effort in Nature, thrown down from her proper state, and defending herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/the-generality-have-considered-that-disease-is-but-a-confused-and/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [A man is as old as his arteries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/a-man-is-as-old-as-his-arteries/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [As no man can say who it was that first invented the use of clothes and houses against the inclemency of the weather, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/as-no-man-can-say-who-it-was-that-first-invented-the-use-of-clothes/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) > [“Of all the remedies it has pleased almighty God to give man to relieve his suffering, none is so universal and so efficacious as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sydenham/of-all-the-remedies-it-has-pleased-almighty-god-to-give-man-to/) [Thomas Sydenham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) [Explore all 26 Thomas Sydenham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sydenham/) ## More Anatomy quotes > [Anatomy is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/anatomy-is-destiny/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [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/) > [Dark influences from the American past congregate among us still. If we are a democracy, what are we to make of the palpable elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/dark-influences-from-the-american-past-congregate-among-us-still-if/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“I feel your body, your sick and scared body. And I feel how it must be different from how it was, and how it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-montross/i-feel-your-body-your-sick-and-scared-body-and-i-feel-how-it-must-be/) [Christine Montross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-montross/) > [“The pen is an extension of my anatomy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-pen-is-an-extension-of-my-anatomy/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [I profess to learn and to teach anatomy not from books but from dissections, not from the tenets of Philosophers but from the fabric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-harvey/i-profess-to-learn-and-to-teach-anatomy-not-from-books-but-from/) [William Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-harvey/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [We all think we’re going to be great and we feel a little bit robbed when our expectations aren’t met. But sometimes our expectations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shonda-rhimes/we-all-think-we-re-going-to-be-great-and-we-feel-a-little-bit-robbed/) [Shonda Rhimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shonda-rhimes/) > [Ultimately, the problem is that sex is perceived as a personal, intimate thing, not in the realm of science. But that's not true. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/ultimately-the-problem-is-that-sex-is-perceived-as-a-personal/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [Grammar is to a writer what anatomy is to a sculptor, or the scales to a musician. You may loathe it, it may bore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-j-chute/grammar-is-to-a-writer-what-anatomy-is-to-a-sculptor-or-the-scales-to/) B. J. Chute > [The whole aim of comparative anatomy is to discover what structures are homologous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libbie-hyman/the-whole-aim-of-comparative-anatomy-is-to-discover-what-structures/) Libbie Hyman > [I am sincerely trying now to create a dance technique based entirely upon corrective exercises, created with a knowledge of human anatomy; a technique…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-horton/i-am-sincerely-trying-now-to-create-a-dance-technique-based-entirely/) Lester Horton > [My philosophy is this: Do not tamper with the anatomy of a woman's body; do not camouflage it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oleg-cassini/my-philosophy-is-this-do-not-tamper-with-the-anatomy-of-a-woman-s/) [Oleg Cassini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oleg-cassini/) > [My fundamental premise about the brain is that its workings - what we sometimes call "mind" - are a consequence of its anatomy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/my-fundamental-premise-about-the-brain-is-that-its-workings-what-we-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In my experience of these things, parties which shout about dirty tricks and the like tend to do so because they fear a direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mandelson/in-my-experience-of-these-things-parties-which-shout-about-dirty/) [Peter Mandelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mandelson/) [Browse all 273 Anatomy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anatomy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is all very fine, but it won't do-Anatomy-botany-Nonsense! 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