01UndatedTime for me is now double-edged: every day brings me further from the low of my last relapse but closer to the next recurrence - and, eventually, death. Perhaps later than I think, but certainly sooner than I desire.Paul Kalanithi / quote ↗
02UndatedThere is a tension in the Bible between justice and mercy, between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And the New Testament says you can never be good enough: goodness is the thing, and you can never live up to it. The main message of Jesus, I believed, is that mercy trumps justice every time.Paul Kalanithi / quote ↗
03UndatedWords began to feel as weightless as the breath that carried. Stepping back, I realized that I was merely confirming what I already knew: I wanted that direct experience. It was only in practicing medicine that I could pursue a serious biological philosophy. Moral speculation was puny compared to moral action.Paul Kalanithi / quote ↗
04UndatedPeople react differently to hearing 'Procedure X has a 70 percent chance of survival' and 'Procedure Y has a 30 percent chance of death.' Phrased that way, people flock to Procedure X, even though the numbers are the same.Paul Kalanithi / quote ↗
05UndatedHuman knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still, it is never complete.Paul Kalanithi / quote ↗
06UndatedWhat patients seek is not scientific knowledge that doctors hide, but existential authenticity each person must find on her own... the angst of facing mortality has no remedy in probability.Paul Kalanithi / quote ↗
07UndatedScience is based on reproducibility and manufactured objectivity. As strong as that makes its ability to generate claims about matter and energy, it also makes scientific knowledge inapplicable to the existential, visceral nature of human life, which is unique and subjective and unpredictable.Paul Kalanithi / quote ↗
