A famous speech in Medicine by William Osler. I am not a MD but the speech impresses the heck out of me. It is a concept/ideal that is not talked about much any more. Something that I am lacking but can aspire to.
I get a kick out of the ending quote having read the story of Roland as a kid
And, if the fight is for principle and justice, even when failure seems certain,
where many have failed before, cling to your ideal, and, like Childe Roland
8
["Aequanimitas," Aequanimitas, p. 9]
AEQUANIMITAS
before the dark tower, set the slug-horn to your lips, blow the
challenge, and calmly await the conflict.
Thanks for this. Beautiful. I liked the preceding sentence: "Remember, too, that sometimes "from our desolation only does the better life begin" Even with disaster ahead and ruin imminent, it is better to face them with a smile, and with the head erect, than to crouch at their approach."
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