25 Famous Hippocrates Quotes
Hippocrates , (born c. 460 bc, island of Cos, Greece—died c. 375, Larissa, Thessaly), Greek physician regarded as the father of medicine. During his lifetime, he was admired as a physician and teacher. Plato and Aristotle mention him in several of their own works, and Aristotle’s student Meno recounts his ideas about the causes of disease. The Hippocratic Collection (Corpus Hippocraticum) was assembled for the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. About 60 medical writings have survived that bear Hippocrates’ name, most of which were not written by him.
- “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
- “There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.”
- “Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity. ”
- “Declare the past, diagnose the present, foretell the future.”
- “Walking is man’s best medicine. ”
- “As to diseases, make a habit of two things — to help, or at least, to do no harm.”
- “Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult.”
- “People think that epilepsy is divine simply because they don’t have any idea what causes epilepsy. But I believe that someday we will understand what causes epilepsy, and at that moment, we will cease to believe that it’s divine. And so it is with everything in the universe”
- “The life so short, the craft so long to learn.”
- “It is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has.”
- “A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.”
- “The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well.”
- “That which is used – develops. That which is not used wastes away.”
- “Everything in excess is opposed by nature.”
- “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.”
- “There are, in effect, two things, to know and to believe one knows; to know is science; to believe one knows is ignorance.”
- “If you are in a bad mood go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood go for another walk.”
- “Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.”
- “Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease.”
- “The physician must be able to tell the antecedents, know the present, and foretell the future — must mediate these things, and have two special objects in view with regard to disease, namely, to do good or to do no harm.”
- “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.”
- “It’s more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.”
- “The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different.”
- “Life is short, the art long.”
- “Eunuchs do not take the gout, nor become bald.”
