"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 Medicine See all quotes by William Osler →

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More by William Osler

“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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"Though the gifts of the mind are infinite, they can, it seems to me, be thus classified. There are some so beautiful that everyone can see and feel their beauty. There are some lovely, it is true, but…"

— François de La Rochefoucauld

Military1521–1572

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"That general warrants, whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offense i…"

— George Mason

Politics1725–1792

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"But in the days that are now passing over us, even fools are arrested to ask the meaning of them; few of the generations of men have seen more impressive days. Days of endless calamity, disruption, di…"

— Thomas Carlyle

Philosophy1795–1881

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"Ever the more clearly that the soul seeth this Blissful Cheer by grace of loving, the more it longeth to see it in fulness. For notwithstanding that our Lord God dwelleth in us and is here with us, an…"

— Julian of Norwich

Literature

#love