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 beginning of health is to know the disease.
Medicine is a science, not a conjectural art.
The physician must know not only the disease but also the patient's habits, constitution, age, and the season of the year.
The art of medicine is a conjectural art, but its conjectures are based on likelihoods derived from experience.
There are in fact four qualities by which we judge the temperament of the body: heat, cold, dryness, and moisture.
The veins arise from the liver, the arteries from the heart.
The best healer is the one who can prevent disease.
A physician must have a sharp mind, sound judgment, and a compassionate heart.
The pulse is the dialogue of the heart with the physician.
A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.
The physician must be a logician, a natural philosopher, and an ethicist.
The soul's diseases are cured by certain words, and these words are the fairest and most excellent medicines.
If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.
The physician who knows only medicine, knows not even medicine.
The body is composed of elements, and its health depends on their proper balance.
It is not enough for the physician to do what is necessary; the patient, the attendants, and external circumstances must also contribute.
The first step in the treatment of disease is to remove the cause.
Contemporaries of Galen of Pergamon
Other Medicines born within 50 years of Galen of Pergamon (129–216).