Are doctors who make mistakes villains? No, because then we all are. - Atul Gawande

The possibilities and probabilities are all we have to work with in medicine, though. What we are drawn to in this imperfect science, what we in fact covet in our way, is the alterable moment-the fragile but crystalline opportunity for one's know-how, ability, or just gut instinct to change the course of another's life for the better.

You know, there’s this phase of people’s lives in which they can’t really cope on their own, and we ought to find a way to make it manageable.

The only way death is not meaningless is to see yourself as part of something greater: a family, a community, a society.