Jerome Groopman Quotes

• To hope under the most extreme circumstances is an act of defiance that permits a person to live his life on his own terms. It is part of the human spirit to endure and give a miracle a chance to happen.

  Jerome Groopman

  Giving, Miracle, Spirit

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.58, Random House

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• Hope gives us the courage to confront our circumstances and the capacity to surmount them.

  Jerome Groopman

  Giving, Capacity, Circumstances

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.7, Random House

  45 Copy quote

• Hope is the elevating feeling we experience when we see - in the mind's eye - a path to a better future.

  Jerome Groopman

  Eye, Feelings, Mind

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.6, Random House

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• Even when there is no longer hope for the body, there is always hope for the soul.

  Jerome Groopman

  Hope, Soul, Body

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.6, Random House

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• The freedom of patient speech is necessary if the doctor is to get clues about the medical enigma before him. If the patient is inhibited, or cut off prematurely, or constrained into one path of discussion, then the doctor may not be told something vital. Observers have noted that, on average, physicians interrupt patients within eighteen seconds of when they begin telling their story.

  Jerome Groopman

  Cutting, Doctors, Average

  Jerome Groopman (2008). “How Doctors Think”, p.17, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• True hope is cleareyed. It sees all the difficulties that exist and all the potential for failure, but through that carves a realistic path to a better future.

  Jerome Groopman

  Path, Realistic, Difficulty

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• There is an authentic biology of hope. Belief and expectation - the key elements of hope - can block pain by releasing the brain's endorphins and enkephalins, mimicking the effects of morphine.

  Jerome Groopman

  Pain, Block, Keys

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.8, Random House

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• Hope differs from optimism. Hope does not arise from being told to "think positively," or from hearing an overly rosy forecast. Hope, unlike optimism, is rooted in unalloyed reality.

  Jerome Groopman

  Hope, Thinking, Reality

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.6, Random House

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• False hope can lead to intemperate choices and flawed decision making. True hope takes into account the real threats that exist and seeks to navigate the best path around them.

  Jerome Groopman

  Real, Choices, Decision

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.130, Random House

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• Help, then, is the ballast that keeps us steady, that recognizes where along the path are the dangers and pitfalls that can throw us off; hope tempers fear so we can recognize dangers and then bypass or endure them.

  Jerome Groopman

  Hope, Pitfalls, Path

  Jerome Groopman (2005). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, Random House Trade Paperbacks

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• Hope, true hope, has proved as important as any medication I might prescribe or any procedure I might perform.

  Jerome Groopman

  Important, Might, Medication

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.7, Random House

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• Hope can be imagined as a domino effect, a chain reaction, each increment making the next increase more feasible... There are moments of fear and doubt that can deflate it.

  Jerome Groopman

  Doubt, Next, Moments

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• On average, physicians interrupt patients within eighteen seconds of when they begin telling their story.

  Jerome Groopman

  Average, Physicians, Stories

  Jerome Groopman (2008). “How Doctors Think”, p.17, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• I had learned that every patient has the right to hope, despite long odds, and it was my role to help nurture that hope.

  Jerome Groopman

  Odds, Long, Roles

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.60, Random House

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• Many years before when I had serious back pain from a sports injury, the surgeons said they would explore my spine and "figure it out." Out of frustration I had impulsively opted for the procedure. They ended up fusing the vertebrae. It left me debilitated. In hindsight, I blamed myself more than the surgeons. I had pressed them for a solution when in fact none was apparent because the cause of the pain was obscure.

  Jerome Groopman

  Sports, Pain, Frustration

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• I feel that I have to do everything better just to be judged as okay. It is something I wish I could let go of. It's something that I wish just wasn't there.

  Jerome Groopman

  Letting Go, Wish, Okay

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