Joseph Lister

The antiseptic system is not a mere fashion, but a fundamental advance in surgical science.

The introduction of the antiseptic system has been met with much opposition, but its truth is now undeniable.

The surgeon who neglects antiseptic precautions is guilty of a grave dereliction of duty.

The idea that pus is laudable is a dangerous and erroneous doctrine.

The putrefaction of wounds is not a natural process, but an accidental one.

The success of antiseptic surgery is not due to any mysterious influence, but to the simple exclusion of living organisms.

The surgeon must be a master of cleanliness, both in person and in practice.

The antiseptic system is a triumph of reason over tradition.

The benefits of antiseptic surgery are not confined to the operating theatre, but extend to the entire hospital environment.

The antiseptic system has transformed surgery from a dangerous art into a relatively safe science.

But the antiseptic system, as I have endeavoured to carry it out, is a very different thing from what it was when I first brought it before the profession.

Upon this principle I have based a practice which, after nearly five years' experience, has in my hands made a great change in the results of operations.

When I read, in the early numbers of the 'British Medical Journal,' of the satisfactory results following the use of carbolic acid in the treatment of sewage, it occurred to me that it might be employed as a surgical dressing.

The great object of our profession is to preserve life and to alleviate suffering.

I am a believer in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.

The longer I live, the more I am convinced that the apathy and incredulity with which new truths are received is one of the great stumbling blocks to the progress of knowledge.

It is our proud office to tend the fleshly tabernacle of the immortal spirit, and our path, if rightly followed, will be guided by unfettered truth and love unfeigned.

I ventured to assert that the essential cause of suppuration in wounds is decomposition brought about by the influence of the atmosphere upon blood or serum retained within them.

The frequency of disastrous consequences in compound fracture, contrasted with the complete immunity from danger to life or limb in simple fracture, is one of the most striking as well as melancholy facts in surgical practice.

All the inflammatory suppurations and fevers that follow wounds and operations are due to the entrance into the wound of minute organisms which are universally present in the atmosphere.