Just using a checklist requires [doctors] to embrace different values from ones we've had, like humility, discipline, teamwork.

Over time I learned that there are two very different satisfactions that you can have in your life. One is the satisfaction of becoming skilled at something. It almost doesn't matter what the terrain is. There is a deep, soul-feeding resonance in mastery itself, whether in teaching, writing a complicated software program, coaching a baseball team, or marshalling a group of people to start a new business.

In one study, old people assigned to a geriatrics team stayed independent for far longer, and were admitted to the hospital less.

Arriving at an acceptance of one's mortality is a process, not an epiphany.

No matter what measures are taken, doctors will sometimes falter, and it isn't reasonable to ask that we achieve perfection. What is reasonable is to ask that we never cease to aim for it.

This was not guilt: guilt is what you feel when you have done something wrong. What I felt was shame: I was what was wrong.

A failure often does not have to be a failure at all. However, you have to be ready for it-will you admit when things go wrong? Will you take steps to set them right?-because the difference between triumph and defeat, you'll find, isn't about willingness to take risks. It's about mastery of rescue.