Andreas Vesalius

I have not feared to contradict the ancients when my own observations have shown them to be in error.

The pursuit of knowledge should be guided by reason and observation, not by blind faith.

The human body is a complex machine, and its workings can only be understood through careful examination.

I have dedicated my life to the study of anatomy, and I believe that my efforts have not been in vain.

I am not accustomed to saying anything with certainty after only one or two observations.

The human body is a machine so wisely contrived that it renews its own motion, repairs its own injuries, and is admirably adapted to its purposes.

I could have done nothing more worthwhile than to give a new description of the whole human body, of which nobody understood the anatomy.

The study of medicine is a perpetual warfare against ignorance.

Anatomy is to physiology as geography is to history; it describes the theatre of events.

I have not allowed myself to be so dominated by the writings of Galen... that I have been unwilling to trust the testimony of my own eyes.

The true foundation of medicine is anatomy.

How much has been attributed to Galen, easily and without any question, by physicians and anatomists up to this day!

I shall attempt to place before your eyes the whole structure of the human body, not as it is described by the ancients, but as it appears to us in this age.

The bones are the foundation of the body.

The heart is the principal member of the body, the sun of our microcosm.

The brain is the citadel of sense and movement.

The hand is the instrument of instruments.

It is the duty of the physician to know the body and its parts.

I have striven to the utmost to make my description of the parts of the human body as clear as possible.

The liver is the workshop of the blood.