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 physician must know the nature of man.
The heart is the source of innate heat.
The arteries carry vital spirit.
The veins carry blood.
The physician must be skilled in anatomy.
Disease is a disturbance of the natural order.
The physician must be a good observer of symptoms.
The best cure is prevention.
The body is a complex machine.
The physician must be able to reason from cause to effect.
The senses are the gateways to knowledge.
The brain is the source of voluntary motion.
The body is governed by natural laws.
The physician must be able to adapt his treatment to the individual patient.
The mind and body are intimately connected.
The physician must be a master of his craft.
The physician must be able to prognosticate the course of disease.
The purpose of medicine is to restore health.
The physician must be a keen observer of nature.
The body is a microcosm of the universe.
Contemporaries of Galen of Pergamon
Other Medicines born within 50 years of Galen of Pergamon (129–216).