"Variability is the law of life, and as no two faces are the same, so no two bodies are alike, and no two individuals react alike and behave alike under the abnormal conditions which we know as disease."

William Osler Medicine See all quotes by William Osler →

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“Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability.”

“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.”

“Osler Library, brief biography of William Osler”

“We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can from, Life.”

“Common sense in matters medical is rare, and is usually in inverse ratio to the degree of education.”

“The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.”

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