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There is no more difficult art to acquire than the art of observation, and for some men it is quite as difficult to record an observation in brief and plain language.

William Osler

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William Osler
Age: 70 †
Born: 1849
Born: July 12
Died: 1919
Died: December 29
Physician
Professor
Sir William Osler
Sir William
WO
Art
Plain
Men
Acquire
Observation
Record
Records
Quite
Language
Difficult
Brief

More quotes by William Osler

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There are, in truth, no specialties in medicine, since to know fully many of the most important diseases a man must be familiar with their manifestations in many organs.
William Osler
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Beware of people who call you 'Doc.' They rarely pay their bills.
William Osler
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But whatever you do, take neither yourselves nor your fellow-creatures too seriously. There is tragedy enough in our daily routine, but there is room too for a keen sense of the absurdities and incongruities of life, and in the shifting panorama no one sees better than the doctor the perennial sameness of men’s ways.
William Osler
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The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine.
William Osler
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The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next, and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow.
William Osler
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Conservatism and old fogeyism are totally different things the motto of one is Prove all things and hold fast that which is good and of the other Prove nothing but hold fast that which is old.
William Osler
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Faith is a most precious commodity, without which we should be very badly off.
William Osler
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The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature which distinguishes man from animals.
William Osler
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The future belongs to Science. More and more she will control the destinies of the nations. Already she has them in her crucible and on her balances.
William Osler
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In seeking absolute truth we aim at the unattainable and must be content with broken portions.
William Osler
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Take the sum of human achievement in action, in science, in art, in literature subtract the work of the men above forty, and while we should miss great treasures, even priceless treasures, we would practically be where we are today ... The effective, moving, vitalizing work of the world is done between the ages of twenty-five and forty.
William Osler
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It cannot be too often or too forcibly brought home to us that the hope of the profession is with the men who do its daily work in general practice.
William Osler
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A well-trained, sensible doctor is one of the most valuable assets of a community.
William Osler
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Let each hour of the day have its allotted duty, and cultivate that power of concentration which grows with its exercise.
William Osler
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That man can interrogate as well as observe nature was a lesson slowly learned in his evolution.
William Osler
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A physician who treats himself has a fool for a patient.
William Osler
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Work is the open sesame of every portal, the great equalizer in the world, the true philosopher's stone which transmutes all the base metal of humanity into gold.
William Osler
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The natural man has only two primal passions, to get and beget.
William Osler
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Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought.
William Osler
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The higher the standard of education in a profession, the less marked will be the charlatanism.
William Osler