Abraham Verghese
Abraham Verghese
Abraham Vergheseis a physician-author, Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. He is also the author of three best-selling books, two memoirs and a novel. In 2011, he was elected to be a member of the Institute of Medicine...
NationalityEthiopian
ProfessionAuthor
CountryEthiopia
self-confidence seductive firsts
To be around someone whose self-confidence is more than what our first glance led us to expect is seductive.
beautiful something-beautiful
Make something beautiful of your life.
teaching taught dies
He was teaching me how to die, just as he'd taught me how to live.
sacred ordinary intrusion
If 'ecstasy' meant the sudden intrusion of the sacred into the ordinary, then it had just happened to me.
jobs relief holes
Your job is to preserve yourself, not to descend into their hole. It's a relief when you arrive at this place, the point of absurdity, because then you are free, you owe them nothing.
believe past black
I believe in black holes. I believe that as the universe empties into nothingness, past and future will smack together in the last swirl around the drain.
broken generations next
We are all fixing what is broken. It is the task of a lifetime. We'll leave much unfinished for the next generation.
destiny omission our-actions
Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny.
morning sight sunrise
When I wake to the gift of yet another sunrise my first thought is to rouse him and say, I owe you the sight of morning.
regret heart mean
My VIP patients often regret so many things on their deathbeds. They regret the bitterness they'll leave in people's hearts. They realize the no money, no church service, no eulogy, no funeral procession no matter how elaborate, can remove the legacy of a mean spirit.
home patient helping
By visiting patients in their home, by helping them come to terms with their illness, I could heal when I could not cure.
reform care lines
The bottom line: health care reform is about the patient, not about the physician.
shows love-to-read willing
I love to read poetry but I haven't written anything that I'm willing to show anybody.
motivation believe inspiration
We're losing a ritual. We're losing a ritual that I believe is transformative, transcendent, and is at the heart of the patient-physician relationship.