Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
A polymath whose 'The Canon of Medicine' was a standard medical text for centuries and integrated Greek and Indian medical traditions.
Most quoted
"Now it is established in the sciences that no knowledge is acquired save through the study of its causes and beginnings, if it has had causes and beginnings; nor completed except by knowledge of its accidents and accompanying essentials."
— from The Canon of Medicine
"Medicine is a science from which one learns the states of the human body in health and disease, in order to preserve health when it exists and restore it when it has been lost."
— from The Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb)
"The more you study, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know. So why study?"
— from Attributed, often as a humorous paradox
All quotes by Avicenna (Ibn Sina) (356)
The health of the body depends on the balance of the humors.
The disease is a disturbance of the balance of the humors.
The cure is to restore the balance of the humors.
The physician must know the nature of the disease, the nature of the patient, and the nature of the remedy.
The physician must be able to distinguish between the symptoms of the disease and the effects of the remedy.
The physician must be able to predict the course of the disease and the outcome of the treatment.
The physician must be able to prevent disease and to promote health.
The physician must be able to comfort the patient and to alleviate their suffering.
The physician must be a man of integrity and compassion.
The physician must be a man of learning and experience.
The physician must be a man of faith and hope.
The physician must be a man of courage and perseverance.
The physician must be a man of humility and wisdom.
The soul, when it leaves the body, is like a bird that has been freed from its cage.
I have sought knowledge from every corner of the world, and I have found it to be the most precious of all treasures.
The physician must be a philosopher, a poet, and a friend.
Truth is a jewel that must be sought with diligence and patience.
The mind is a mirror that reflects the universe.
Love is the essence of all existence.
The wise man is he who knows himself.
Contemporaries of Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
Other Medicines born within 50 years of Avicenna (Ibn Sina) (980–1037).