Quotes from Atul Gawande

But now the problem we face is ineptitude, or maybe it's "eptitude"—making sure we apply the knowledge we have consistently and correctly. Just making the right treatment choice among the many options for a heart attack patient can be difficult, even for expert clinicians.

Every one of them had a story to tell.

that the chance to shape one's story is essential to sustaining meaning in life;

two-thirds of such complications were due to errors in care.

Her bosses saw her as an ideal prospect.

the 36 percent increase between 2004 and 2007 in lawsuits against attorneys for legal mistakes—the most common being simple administrative errors, like missed calendar dates and clerical screwups, as well as errors in applying the law.

As our time winds down, we all seek comfort in simple pleasures; companionship, everyday routines, the taste of good food, the warmth of sunlight on our faces. We become less interested in the awards of achieving and accumulating and more interested in the rewards of simply being.

It was estimated that, nationwide, upward of forty-four thousand patients die each year at least partly as a result of errors in care.

she'd stumble over a word

I was willing to be rejected. That's what allows you to be a good salesperson.

Benzel had a way of looking at people that let them know he was really looking at them. He was several inches taller than my parents, but he made sure to sit at eye level. He turned his seat away from the computer and planted himself directly in front of them. He did not twitch or fidget or even react when my father talked. He had that midwesterner's habit of waiting a beat after people have spoken before speaking himself, in order to see if they are really done.

Having already done more harm than the bullet had

We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. We can't even keep from snacking between meals. We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at.

But Arnold had also recommended a strategy palliative care physicians use when they have to talk about bad news with people—they "ask, tell, ask." They ask what you want to hear, then they tell you, and then they ask what you understood. So I asked.

The first is the courage to confront the reality of mortality—the

Home is the one place where your own priorities hold sway. At home, you decide how you spend your time, how you share your space, and how you manage your possessions.

Medicine is, I have found, a strange and in many ways disturbing business.

Most surgeons are sued at least once in the course of their careers. Studies

with her pale Irish skin, her blushes stood out.

For this reason, doctors are seldom outraged when the press reports yet another medical horror story. They usually have a different reaction: That could be me.

It may seem odd that such a person would place herself in front of a camera.

For human beings, life is meaningful because it is a story. A story has a sense of a whole, and its arc is determined by the significant moments, the ones where something happens.

but the redness became virtually unnoticeable.

I AM LEERY of suggesting the idea that endings are controllable. No one ever really has control. Physics and biology and accident ultimately have their way in our lives. But the point is that we are not helpless either. Courage is the strength to recognize both realities.