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 opened a new era in operative medicine.
Let the knife be guided by science, not by the patient's screams.
I sought not fame, but the alleviation of human misery.
The victory over pain is complete.
My preparation, which I call Letheon, produces a state of insensibility without danger to life.
I stand alone as the introducer of surgical anesthesia.
The honor of the discovery is mine; the benefit is the world's.
I have been compelled to fight for my rights against powerful combinations.
Before my discovery, the operating room was a chamber of horrors.
My only regret is that I did not discover it sooner.
The memory of that first successful operation will never leave me.
I have given sleep to the suffering.
The greatest discovery of the age in medical science.
My motives have been misunderstood and my character assailed.
I ask only for justice and the credit that is my due.
The demonstration was perfect; the patient felt no pain.
I have unlocked the door to painless surgery.
My discovery belongs to humanity, not to any individual or corporation.
The conquest of pain is the noblest triumph of science.
I have been poor in purse but rich in the consciousness of doing good.
Contemporaries of William Thomas Green Morton
Other Medicines born within 50 years of William Thomas Green Morton (1819–1868).