Galen of Pergamon
A prominent physician and surgeon in the Roman Empire whose extensive writings dominated Western medicine for over a millennium.
Most quoted
"I have done as much for medicine as Trajan did for the Roman Empire when he built the bridges and roads through Italy. It is I, and I alone, who have revealed the true path of medicine."
— from On My Own Books
"All who drink of this remedy recover in a short time, except those whom it does not help, who all die. Therefore, it is obvious that it fails only in incurable cases."
— from On the Therapeutic Method
"I have often seen physicians, when they have failed to cure a disease, blame the patient's constitution, or the stars, or anything but their own ignorance."
— from On the Natural Faculties
All quotes by Galen of Pergamon (337)
The best physician is also a philosopher.
Nature does nothing in vain.
The physician must be able to recognize the nature of the disease, and to distinguish it from other diseases.
The pulse is the messenger of the heart.
Health is a state of perfect equilibrium of the humors.
The body is the instrument of the soul.
It is easier to prevent than to cure.
The brain is the seat of the soul and the organ of sensation and voluntary motion.
Ignorance is the root of all evil.
The most important thing for a physician is to know the human body.
Medicine is a science that teaches us how to preserve health and how to restore it when lost.
The heart is the source of life.
Experience is the best teacher.
The liver is the source of blood.
The physician must be a good observer.
The stomach is the seat of digestion.
The kidneys are for filtering the blood.
The physician must be skilled in diagnosis and prognosis.
The lungs are for respiration.
The spleen is for purifying the blood.
Contemporaries of Galen of Pergamon
Other Medicines born within 50 years of Galen of Pergamon (129–216).