Mortal Lessons

 “A man does not know whose hands will stroke from him the last bubbles of his life. That alone should make him kinder to strangers.”
― Richard Selzer, Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery


Doctor Richard Selzer died yesterday and when I saw his obituary I recognized his name but did not know why until I realized he wrote the most fascinating book I have ever read. The book came out in the late 1970s and his writing captivated me so much I am still a prisoner of it all these years later. Beautiful book, rest in peace Doctor Selzer.

Doctor Selzer's obituary in the New York Times.