Florence Nightingale

The true nurse, like the true physician, is one who is always learning.

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot tell. Part of being an optimist is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward.

Let us never consider ourselves as finished nurses. We must be learning all our lives.

The lamp is the symbol of the nurse, the light of hope and comfort.

Ignorance is a heavy burden to bear.

The best way to get a thing done is to do it.

What is it to be a nurse? It is to be a ministering angel.

The amount of good that can be done by a single individual is often underestimated.

It is often thought that the nurse is there to carry out the orders of the doctor. This is a very small part of her duty.

The nurse must have a clear head, a quick eye, a steady hand, and a sympathetic heart.

The path of progress is never a straight line.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

The true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.

I stand at the altar of the murdered men, and while I live, I will fight their cause.

Instead of wishing to see God in the world, we must wish to see the world in God.

The nurse should be the patient's advocate, not merely the doctor's assistant.

The true calling of a nurse is to care for the whole person, not just the disease.

The greatest lesson I have learned is that the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

The best nurses are those who are always learning, always growing, and always striving to improve.

The nurse is the handmaid of humanity.