On average, physicians interrupt patients within eighteen seconds of when they begin telling their story.

Certainly the primary imperative of a physician is to be skilled in medical science, but if he or she does not probe a patient’s soul, then the doctor’s care is given without caring, and part of the sacred mission of healing is missing.

Help, then, is the ballast that keeps us steady, that recognizes where along the path are the dangers and pitfalls that can throw us off; hope tempers fear so we can recognize dangers and then bypass or endure them.

Statistics cannot substitute for the human being before you; statistics embody averages, not individuals.

Even when there is no longer hope for the body, there is always hope for the soul.

Hope gives us the courage to confront our circumstances and the capacity to surmount them.

I feel that I have to do everything better just to be judged as okay. It is something I wish I could let go of. It’s something that I wish just wasn’t there.

False hope can lead to intemperate choices and flawed decision making. True hope takes into account the real threats that exist and seeks to navigate the best path around them.

Hope, true hope, has proved as important as any medication I might prescribe or any procedure I might perform.

True hope is cleareyed. It sees all the difficulties that exist and all the potential for failure, but through that carves a realistic path to a better future.