You are an instrument of God. Don't leave the instrument sitting in its case, my son. Play! Leave no part of your instrument unexplored. Why settle for 'Three Blind Mice' when you can can play the 'Gloria'? No, not Bach's 'Gloria.' Yours! Your 'Gloria' lives within you. The greatest sin is not finding it, ignoring what God made possible in you.
Interpretation
This quote encourages individuals to recognize and utilize their inherent talents and potential given by God.
Abraham Verghese emphasizes the importance of discovering and embracing one's unique abilities, portraying each person as an instrument meant to contribute to the world. He suggests that choosing to ignore or underutilize these gifts is the true failure, as it prevents one from expressing their own unique creativity and purpose, which he metaphorically calls 'Gloria'.
In practice
In a motivational speech about self-discovery and harnessing one's abilities.
The flip side of suicide is that it leaves a lingering question in the minds of the people who survived. It's like a cancer that's metastasized. The suicide is the cancer and the metastasis is all these people saying, Why? Why? Why?
We're losing a ritual. We're losing a ritual that I believe is transformative, transcendent, and is at the heart of the patient-physician relationship.
I still find the best way to understand a hospitalized patient whose care I am taking over is not by staring at the computer screen but by going to see the patient; it's only at the bedside that I can figure out what is important.
It was all I had, all I've ever had, the only currency, the only proof that I was alive. Memory.
My VIP patients often regret so many things on their deathbeds. They regret the bitterness they'll leave in people's hearts. They realize the no money, no church service, no eulogy, no funeral procession no matter how elaborate, can remove the legacy of a mean spirit.
Students undergo a conversion in the third year of medical school - not pre-clinical to clinical, but pre-cynical to cynical.
Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had.
My greatest mistake is that my dreams were too small.
The only way to find your voice is to use it. Itβs hardwired, built into you. Talk about the things you love. Your voice will follow.
The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice. And tonight, more than two centuries later, it is because of our people that our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward, and the state of our union is strong.
Each day is a new opportunity. Yesterday is over and done. Today is the first day of my future.
Ideas come at any moment -- except when you demand them. Most ideas come while I'm physically active, at the gym, with friends, gardening, so I always carry pen and paper. My first draft is always written in longhand. But once the first dozen chapters, more like short stories, are written, then momentum builds until I can't leave the project until it's done.
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