These are folks that keep people out of hospitals, out of emergency rooms, out of nursing homes. And not only that, they help people achieve more fulfilling lives.

Courage is strength in the face of knowledge of what is to be feared or hoped. Wisdom is prudent strength.

Are doctors who make mistakes villains? No, because then we all are.

In the end, people don't view their life as merely the average of all its moments-which, after all, is mostly nothing much plus some sleep. 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. Measurements of people's minute-by-minute levels of pleasure and pain miss this fundamental aspect of human existence. A seemingly happy life maybe empty. A seemingly difficult life may be devoted to a great cause. We have purposes larger than ourselves.

If the conversation people think is coming is the 'death panel' conversation, that's a total failure.

Writing lets you step back and think through a problem. Even the angriest rant forces the writer to achieve a degree of thoughtfulness.

If I became just a brain in a jar - as long as I can communicate back and forth with people, that would be okay with me.