Hippocrates — "The powers of drugs are not to be trusted, but the power of nature is to be trus…"
The powers of drugs are not to be trusted, but the power of nature is to be trusted.
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More from Hippocrates
"To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy."
"The best way to preserve health is to avoid disease."
"When a fever is present, the bowels should be loose; when absent, they should be costive."
"The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician."
"For extreme diseases, extreme methods of cure, as to restrict them to the knife or fire."
Details
Attributed, reflecting his emphasis on the body's natural healing abilities.
Date: c. 400 BC
Nature & WorldVerification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Don't rely on medications or treatments as your primary healing force. The body has its own built-in capacity to recover and restore itself, and that biological wisdom is more reliable than any external substance we might apply. Treatments should support the body's natural processes rather than replace or override them. Trust what nature designed; be cautious about what humans concoct.
Relevance to Hippocrates
Hippocrates built medicine on systematic observation rather than supernatural explanations, famously advocating that nature heals and the physician merely assists. His principle 'first, do no harm' directly mirrors this skepticism of aggressive intervention. As a physician in ancient Greece, he witnessed treatments like bloodletting and purgatives cause more damage than disease itself, reinforcing his conviction that nature's restorative power surpassed human pharmaceutical attempts.
The era
In ancient Greece, medicine competed with temple priests offering divine cures and traveling healers selling herbal concoctions of dubious value. Hippocrates was distinguishing rational medicine from superstition and quackery. Most available drugs were plant-based, often toxic in unpredictable doses. Establishing nature's healing primacy gave early physicians a philosophical anchor against pressure to always intervene aggressively, legitimizing watchful waiting as genuine medical practice.
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