He had so many ways of climbing into the tree house in his head, escaping the madness below, and pulling the ladder up behind him.

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

Geography is destiny.

Though I am fascinated by knowledge, I am even more fascinated by wisdom.

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.

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

When I use the word 'healing', by that I mean that every disease has a physical element that we're very good at handling, but there's always a sense of the violation. 'Why me?' 'Why is my leg broken on the ski trip and not anyone else's?' And I think that medicine has done a terrible job of addressing that spiritual violation.