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Study until twenty-five, investigation until forty, profession until sixty, at which age I would have him retired on a double allowance.

— William Osler

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Source: . The statement made by him which gave rise to the report that he had advised chloroform after sixty. Denied by him in Medical Record (March 4, 1905).
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by William Osler

Acquire the art of detachment, the virtue of method, and the quality of thoroughness, but above all the grace of humility.

Sir William Osler : Aphorisms (1950)

One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.

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Humanity has but three great enemies: fever, famine, and war; of these by far the greatest, by far the most terrible, is fever.

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

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Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants.

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A physician who treats himself has a fool for a patient.

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The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.

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When schemes are laid in advance, it is surprising how often the circumstances fit in with them.

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More quotes by William Osler

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

To have striven, to have made the effort, to have been true to certain ideals — this alone is worth the struggle.

Sir William Osler : Aphorisms (1950)

No human being is constituted to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; and even the best of men must be content with fragments, with partial glimpses, never the full fruition.

The trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest, and not inferior to either in her mission.

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The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature which distinguishes man from animals.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Osler (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.