Edward Jenner — "The opposition I have met with has only served to confirm me in my opinion."
The opposition I have met with has only served to confirm me in my opinion.
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More from Edward Jenner
"The deviation of man from the state in which he was originally placed by nature seems to have proved to him a prolific source of diseases."
"My mind is so completely absorbed in this subject, that I can think of nothing else."
"How wonderful that this horrid pestilence should at this time even have an existence in our island . . . A Physician from Copenhagen call'd on me today, and express'd his astonishment at an opposition…"
"The disease has hitherto been confined to particular districts; and it has been observed, that where the Cow Pox has prevailed, the Small Pox has been much less frequent, and much less fatal."
"I've dispatc'd, my dear madam, this scrap of a letter, To say that Miss — — is very much better. A Regular Doctor no longer she lacks, And therefore I've sent her a couple of Quacks."
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Understanding this quote
What it means
When people push back against your ideas, it doesn't weaken your conviction — it strengthens it. Resistance forces you to examine your reasoning more carefully, and surviving that scrutiny leaves you more certain than before. Doubt from others becomes fuel for self-confirmation rather than a reason to retreat.
Relevance to Edward Jenner
Jenner faced fierce ridicule from the medical establishment when he proposed that cowpox inoculation could prevent smallpox. Colleagues mocked him, patients were skeptical, and the Royal Society initially rejected his paper. Yet each wave of criticism drove him deeper into his research, ultimately producing one of medicine's greatest breakthroughs through sheer perseverance.
The era
In late 18th-century Britain, smallpox killed roughly 10% of the population and left survivors disfigured. Medical authority rested on tradition and theory rather than experimentation. Challenging orthodoxy risked professional ruin. Jenner's defiance of institutional resistance reflected Enlightenment empiricism — the radical idea that observable evidence should override received wisdom, regardless of social cost.
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