Alfred Blalock
Developed the Blalock-Taussig shunt with Helen Taussig and Vivien Thomas, a groundbreaking surgery for congenital heart defects.
Most quoted
"The surgeon who carries out an operation with the blood pressure falling, the pulse rising, and the patient getting into worse and worse condition, and who thinks that some miracle will happen to carry him through, is fooling himself."
— from Surgical Principles
"The development of the Blalock-Taussig shunt was a testament to the power of collaboration between a surgeon and a cardiologist, and the importance of taking calculated risks for the benefit of patients."
— from Reflecting on his work
"The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants in life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible."
— from Anecdotal
All quotes by Alfred Blalock (383)
There is no substitute for hard work.
The greatest satisfaction in life comes from helping others.
One must be willing to take risks to achieve great things.
The most important thing in surgery is judgment.
Never operate on a patient who is not in the best possible condition.
The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.
We must never forget that we are dealing with human lives.
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.
The mind is everything. What you think you become.
Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.
Contemporaries of Alfred Blalock
Other Medicines born within 50 years of Alfred Blalock (1899–1964).