By visiting patients in their home, by helping them come to terms with their illness, I could heal when I could not cure.

A beautiful literary collection that tells of today's country doctor, somewhat removed from our romantic black-bag image of days gone by, but still fulfilling an essential need in caring for spread-out populations. At times, with today's advances in technology, medicine in rural America looks very like it does in America's cities, but the variety of practices is enormous. The Country Doctor Revisited captures the trials and tribulations of medicine, but also the satisfaction and the extraordinary rewards that come to those who embrace such a practice.

No matter what ailed you, you went to see the barber surgeon who wound up cupping you, bleeding you, purging you. And, oh yes, if you wanted, he would give you a haircut and pull your tooth while he was at it.

He was teaching me how to die, just as he'd taught me how to live.

What did it say when a man had fewer clothes than books?

I believe in black holes. I believe that as the universe empties into nothingness, past and future will smack together in the last swirl around the drain.

The world turns on our every action, and our every omission, whether we know it or not.