Portrait of Hippocrates

Hippocrates

Father of medicine

Ancient influential 117 sayings

Sayings by Hippocrates

The powers of the elements are shown in the seasons.

c. 400 BC — Attributed, linking environmental factors to health.
Power & Leadership Unverifiable

The physician should be able to tell the antecedents, know the present, and foretell the future - must explain the things experienced and things not experienced, and must communicate to the sick the things that are necessary.

c. 400 BC — Prognostic, Chapter 1
Wisdom Unverifiable

The belly is the beginning of all evil.

c. 400 BC — Attributed, an exaggeration to emphasize dietary importance.
Life & Death Unverifiable

Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can cure the patient with food.

c. 400 BC — Attributed, emphasizing diet over medication.
Wisdom Unverifiable

If a man has a pain in his knee, and it is on the outer side, it is a sign that he will have a fever.

c. 400 BC — Aphorisms, Section II, 33
Life & Death Unverifiable

The natural forces within us are the true healers of disease.

c. 400 BC — Attributed, a cornerstone of his medical philosophy.
Wisdom Confirmed

The love of wisdom is the mother of all good things.

c. 400 BC — Attributed, a philosophical statement.
Love & Relationships Unverifiable

He who wishes to be a surgeon should go to war.

c. 400 BC — Attributed, suggesting practical experience is crucial.
War & Conflict Unverifiable

Everything in excess is opposed to nature.

c. 400 BC — Attributed, advocating for moderation.
Nature & World Confirmed

It is a disgrace to a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.

c. 400 BC — Attributed, emphasizing physical fitness.
Inspirational Unverifiable

The physician must be able to tell the antecedents, know the present, and foretell the future.

c. 400 BC — Prognostic, Chapter 1
Wisdom Confirmed

If you cut open a man and find his liver black as pitch, he will die within seven days.

400 BCE — From 'Aphorisms'
Life & Death Unverifiable

The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing.

400 BCE — From 'On Joints'
Wisdom Unverifiable

The flesh of the hedgehog, when eaten, cures incontinence of urine.

400 BCE — From 'Regimen'
Wisdom Unverifiable

Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult.

400 BCE — From 'Aphorisms', on the challenges of medicine.
General Confirmed

The physician must not only be prepared to do what is right himself, but also to make the patient, the attendants, and externals cooperate.

400 BCE — From 'Epidemics', on medical ethics.
General Unverifiable

If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.

400 BCE — Attributed to Hippocrates in later texts.
General Confirmed

A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings.

400 BCE — From 'Regimen', on the importance of health.
General Unverifiable

The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.

400 BCE — From 'Decorum', on medical communication.
General Unverifiable

Those by nature overweight, die earlier than the slim.

c. 460–370 BCE (approximate) — From his medical aphorisms or writings.
Shocking Unverifiable
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