I could have done nothing more worthwhile than to give a new description of the whole human body, of which nobody understood the anatomy, while Galen… - Andreas Vesalius

Passing over the other arts in silence, I shall speak briefly of that which concerns the health of mankind; indeed, of all the arts the genius of man has discovered it is by far the most beneficial and of prime necessity, although difficult and laborious.

I have done my best to this single end, to aid as many as possible in a very recondite as well as laborious matter, and truly and completely to describe the structure of the human body which is formed not of ten or twelve parts-- as it may seem to the spectator-- but of some thousands of different parts.

I am not accustomed to saying anything with certainty after only one or two observations.