The art is long, life is short
HippocratesRead
Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against Nature. When enough sins have accumulated, illnesses will suddenly appear.
Interpretation
Illnesses are a result of small, daily choices that go against natural living.
Hippocrates emphasizes that our health is affected by our daily actions and choices that neglect natural living. When we consistently make poor choices or 'sins' against nature—whether that be in our diet, activity, or overall lifestyle—these gradually build up and can lead to serious health issues manifesting in the form of illnesses.
In practice
In a wellness seminar discussing lifestyle choices.
The art is long, life is short
The body of man has in itself blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile; these make up the nature of this body, and through these he feels pain or enjoys health. Now he enjoys the most perfect health when these elements are duly proportioned to one another in respect of compounding, power and bulk, and when they are perfectly mingled.
That which is used - develops. That which is not used wastes away.
Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always.
Wine is an appropriate article for mankind, both for the healthy body and for the ailing man.
Walking is man's best medicine.
I expected social rank to be the determining factor in health, and in some ways that's true. But far more important is what sort of society that rank occurs in. Being low ranking in a benevolent troop is a hell of a lot better for your blood pressure than being low ranking in an aggressive troop.
I know from my constituency what is going on. Doctors that are told, begged, by mothers, 'Please don't write down that my child as asthma. Please lie and say it's bronchitis, because if you write down asthma, when my child turns 18 or 20 and has to get his or her own insurance, it will be a pre-existing condition.'
Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions.
The drama of AIDS threatens not just some nations or societies, but the whole of humanity. It knows no frontiers of geography, race, age or social condition(calling) for a supreme effort of international cooperation on the part of government, the world medical and scientific community and all those who exercise influence in developing a sense of more responsibility in society.
Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.
The possibilities and probabilities are all we have to work with in medicine, though. What we are drawn to in this imperfect science, what we in fact covet in our way, is the alterable moment-the fragile but crystalline opportunity for one's know-how, ability, or just gut instinct to change the course of another's life for the better.
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