William Thomas Green Morton
Pioneered the use of ether as a surgical anesthetic, making painless surgery possible.
Most quoted
"I have invented a fluid which, applied to the mouth, will cause a patient to fall into a profound sleep, from which he will awaken without pain."
— from Morton's own account, 1846
"To suffer no more pain, to dread no more the surgeon's knife, to be spared the agony of the operating table – this is a blessing beyond measure."
— from Public statement, 1846
"I have discovered a compound by inhaling which, a person is rendered insensible to pain, and can be operated upon without suffering."
— from Letter to Dr. Charles T. Jackson, 1846
All quotes by William Thomas Green Morton (394)
I have discovered a method by which surgical operations may be performed without pain.
I have made a discovery that will relieve suffering humanity.
The patient is ready, gentlemen.
I have given the world a great boon.
My object was to alleviate human suffering.
The greatest discovery ever made for the benefit of mankind.
I have given the world a blessing, and it has given me a stone.
The pain is gone!
I have sacrificed my health and my fortune for this discovery.
The greatest triumph of the age.
I have lived to see the day when pain is abolished from surgery.
This is a great day for humanity.
My only desire is to see my discovery universally adopted.
I have endured calumny and persecution.
I am the discoverer of surgical anesthesia.
Let no man say that I sought to profit from human suffering.
I have given the world a blessing that will endure for all time.
My reward is the knowledge that I have relieved suffering.
The truth will prevail.
I have dedicated my life to this cause.
Contemporaries of William Thomas Green Morton
Other Medicines born within 50 years of William Thomas Green Morton (1819–1868).