If The Conversation People Think Is Coming

When [disease] Can't Be Stopped, That's Where We Become Lost.

In The End, People Don't View Their Life As Merely The Average Of All Its Moments-which, After All, Is Mostly Nothing Much Plus Some Sleep. For Human Beings, Life Is Meaningful Because It Is A Story. A Story Has A Sense Of A Whole, And Its Arc Is Determined By The Significant Moments, The Ones Where Something Happens. Measurements Of People's Minute-by-minute Levels Of Pleasure And Pain Miss This Fundamental Aspect Of Human Existence. A Seemingly Happy Life Maybe Empty. A Seemingly Difficult Life May Be Devoted To A Great Cause. We Have Purposes Larger Than Ourselves.

The Evidence Is That People Who Enter Hospice Don't Have Shorter Lives. In Many Cases They Are Longer.

When We, Doctors, Ask Patients What Their Priorities Are If Time Is Short, What We Do Is We Use What Is Available To Us - Whether It's Geriatric Care Or Palliative Care Or Hospice Care - To Make Sure They're Living The Kind Of Life That They Want To Live.

When I Do An Operation, It's Half A Dozen People. When It Goes Beautifully, It's Like A Symphony, With Everybody Playing Their Part.