No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this-'devoted and obedient.' This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.
Florence NightingaleThe world is put back by the death of every one who has to sacrifice the development of his or her peculiar gifts to conventionality.
Florence NightingaleNature alone cures. ... what nursing has to do ... is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him.
Florence NightingaleLife is a hard fight, a struggle, a wrestling with the principle of evil, hand to hand, foot to foot. Every inch of the way is disputed. The night is given us to take breath, to pray, to drink deep at the fountain of power. The day, to use the strength which has been given us, to go forth to work with it till the evening.
Florence Nightingale