On average, physicians interrupt patients within eighteen seconds of when they begin telling their story.

I had learned that every patient has the right to hope, despite long odds, and it was my role to help nurture that hope.

Hope, true hope, has proved as important as any medication I might prescribe or any procedure I might perform.

Hope differs from optimism. Hope does not arise from being told to "think positively," or from hearing an overly rosy forecast. Hope, unlike optimism, is rooted in unalloyed reality.

Hope gives us the courage to confront our circumstances and the capacity to surmount them.

On average, physicians interrupt patients within eighteen seconds of when they begin telling their story.

I feel that I have to do everything better just to be judged as okay. It is something I wish I could let go of. It's something that I wish just wasn't there.