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)
Disease is an imbalance of the humors.
The physician must strive to restore the balance of the humors.
The best medicine is prevention.
The physician must be a master of anatomy.
The physician must be a master of physiology.
The physician must be a master of pathology.
The physician must be a master of therapeutics.
The physician must be a master of pharmacology.
The physician must be a master of dietetics.
The physician must be a master of hygiene.
The physician must be able to distinguish between what is natural and what is unnatural.
Health is a state of equilibrium.
Observation is the foundation of all medical knowledge.
The humors are the primary constituents of the body.
To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always.
The brain is the seat of the soul and the mind.
The physician should be a servant of nature.
Every part of the body is made for a purpose.
The liver is the source of the blood.
The stomach is the workshop of concoction.
Contemporaries of Galen of Pergamon
Other Medicines born within 50 years of Galen of Pergamon (129–216).