Produced by David Widger

QUOTES AND IMAGES FROM O. W. HOLMES, SR.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

Editor's Note This is the physician and poet, not his son of the same name who was a Supreme Court Justice and famous in his own right. Very early on Dr. Holmes became my mentor and guide in the philosophy of medicine. Though his world-wide fame was based on his prose and poetry, he was an eminent leader in medicine. Many--too many years ago I would often assign Holmes' "Medical Essays" to a medical student whose sharp edges of science needed some rounding-off with a touch of humanity. I have no longer the privilege of assigning anything to anybody, yet encourage any of you, especially any who may be physicians, to read the thoughts of a family doctor of the early 1800's.

A misprint kills a sensitive author

Absolute, peremptory facts are bullies

Advised every literary man to have a profession.

Afraid of books who have not handled them from infancy

Age and neglect united gradually

Agreed on certain ultimata of belief

Algebraic symbols of minds which have grown too weak

All his geese are swans

All men are bores, except when we want them

All men love all women

All the forms of moral excellence, except truth

All want to reach old age and grumble when they get it

And now we two are walking the long path in peace together

Another privilege of talking is to misquote

Arc in the movement of a large intellect

As I understand truth

As to clever people's hating each other

As a child, he should have tumbled about in a library

Asked Solon what made him dare to be so obstinate

Assume a standard of judgment in our own minds

At the mercy of every superior mind

Audacious self-esteem, with good ground for it

Automatic and involuntary actions of the mind

Babbage's calculating machine

Be very careful to whom you trust one of these keys

Beautiful effects from wit,--all the prismatic colors

Table of contents (by pages)

• 1: Images from Works of Oliver W. Holmes by Holmes
• 2: And all the worse for the fishesBetter too few words
• 3: As a pointer lifts his forefootGoverned
• 4: If we outgrow all that we loveGrow old early
• 5: Images from Works of Oliver W. Holmes by Holmes
• 6: Moralist and occasional sermonizerMost of our common
• 7: Pseudo sciencePseudological inanityPublic itself
• 8: Smiling at present folliesSo long as a woman can talk
• 9: Travellers change their guineas
• 10: Entire Project Gutenberg Holmes' Edition 5