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)
Let history judge my contribution.
The old order of surgery has passed away.
I faced the skepticism of the learned and the fear of the ignorant.
My agent is a vapor inhaled into the lungs.
The patient sinks into a tranquil sleep, and wakes to find the operation over.
I have been the instrument of Providence in this great work.
The cry of pain from the operating table is now silenced forever.
My discovery will be my monument.
I have sacrificed my health and my fortune in this cause.
The benefits of anesthesia will extend to the poorest and most humble.
I was the first to dare, the first to succeed.
Let no man suffer as patients once suffered.
The knife is no longer a torturer's instrument but a healer's tool.
My name may be forgotten, but my work will live on.
Contemporaries of William Thomas Green Morton
Other Medicines born within 50 years of William Thomas Green Morton (1819–1868).