Quotes that Move Me

Below is a collection of my favorite quotes. Some of them are inspirational and others just make me think or reconsider my perspective on certain aspects of life. Although most of these people are famous, some of the names you won't recognize at all. I took a few of them from blogs and articles from common people like you and me. I like the idea that anyone can make an impactful statement regardless of notoriety or reputation. Read them and use them as your circumstance lies.

“Meals embody the principles and the disposition of the person who eats them. Food means choices and choices mean a chance to fulfill our principles.” --Ryan Holiday

“Our greatest fear as individuals should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.” Francis Chan

"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character." --Albert Einstein.

How will someone know you love them if you don’t tell them that you love them too? --Spongebob.

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."
- Mario Andretti

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." -Albert Einstein.

"Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life." --Harvey Mckay.

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, stop and reflect.” --Mark twain

“The best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise…forms best calculated to do them lasting good.” – Andrew Carnegie

“Neither the individual nor the race is improved by alms-giving.” – Carnegie

"Dancing is silent poetry."
- Simonides

“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." - Paulo Coelho

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” --Paulo Coelho (The Alquimist).

“Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23

"We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." - Max Dupree

“We don’t beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well.”
-Randy Pausch (1960-2008)

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” -James 1:27

“If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too.” Tim Ferriss

"Life was always a matter of waiting for the right moment to act." - Paulo Coelho

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance."
- Will Durant

"It takes a long time to grow young." - Pablo Picasso

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein

"You need to find a way to live your life, that it doesn't make a mockery of your values." - Bill Ayers

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." - Robert Brault

"It's never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot

Tuesday Takeaway (Sept 27th)

4% of the photos ever taken-->Facebook.

Today's racist bake sale at Berkeley.

Could public biking outcompete the subway and bus system?

The great school depression...SAT lows and spending highs.

Could you live on $30 a week of food?

Time Banks. A way to exchange time and help people.

Facebook's newest target: Music

Creating business sectors in impoverished areas that did not exist before. "The best of philanthropy and capital coming together." Skip to 9minutes in for the meat.

Sad reports and studies from border control mistreatment.

Are our bodies restricted by exhaustion or a mental barrier?

Why our government isn't working.

The world's rudest hand gestures.

Development is often constrained by tradition. Persistance rules over grants and alms giving.

Foods in the shape of flags.

The power of forgiveness. "One of the great secrets of this life is that when we are hurt, we have all the power. We have the power to hold onto the offense, grasping it like a thumb screw in a torture device. But we may, if we choose, unscrew it; we may release the one over whom we have power."

Philosophy of Quirky: Using regular people to innovate.

How to execute your $1,000,000 idea. Check out the tips "Find your (profitable) idea."

Health/Medicine:

Virtual advice from 5000 doctors.

Drug shortages in hospitals.

Incredible cyborg devices could allow for patients with Parkinsons and other debilitating diseases to regain abilities.

Are our bodies restricted by exhaustion or a mental barrier?

Using vinegar to treat HPV.

Tuesday Takeaway (Sept 20th)

World:

Pictures from the gold rush in Senegal.

Drug cartels in Mexico are using social media to promote fear.

Hip Hop: The music of rebellion and justice in Libya.

Building toilets to stop sexual assault in South Africa.

Random:

Tuition for UC Universities might increase by 81% over the next 4 years! Most staggering statistic: Average tuition at a UC in 2000: $4,000. Average tuition at a UC in 2015: $22,000.

Brad Pitt confessions

I am a photic sneezer. are you?

Why whiners don't win. "According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 71 percent of human resources managers say they place more emphasis on emotional intelligence -- a person's ability to control his or her emotions, sense the emotions of others and build relationships -- than they do on IQ. Fifty-nine percent of employers even said they wouldn't hire someone who had a high IQ but low EI."

Is Hillary Clinton back for 2012? Polls say so, but Clinton will not.

What would you promise yourself?

A free text by Epictetus. Go stoicism!

The CIA pitches to Hollywood.

The exodus of 'primary caregiving' women from prisons in CA. Lawsuits in the future?

So this is where blond jokes come from.

Raising awareness in Boulder about Homelessness.

Healthcare and Medicine:

Gates Foundation: Reinventing the toilet...swapping water for fertilizer.

What do you know about Celiac Disease?

Gamers solving scientific quandaries.

Patients like me: Finding a disease based support group...virtually.

The man who was cured of HIV.

U.S. healthcare taught by Dr. Seuss.

Does extra safety as a physician mean bad medicine? It certainly means unnecessary costs.

The Tuesday Takeaway (week 4)

Obama’s target on Rural Community growth.

Obama is pushing Congress on the American Jobs Act. His quote: "stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy"

Computors>Textbooks.

Using Wordle to remove redundancies in foreign language writing.

Breaking U.S. temperature records in the summertime.

A documentary on Hair in the Sikh community.

Discovering more time and yourself without porn.

How contagious are emotional states? “We pass emotions back and forth all the time, as part of every interaction we have with another person,” notes Daniel Goleman, author of “Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence.” “It’s usually subtle, but sometimes all too obvious.

A distressing report from Somalia from the president of Médecins Sans Frontières

Some things are hard to believe.

Tweeting from Tipoli.

Chile’s September 11th: A U.S. backed coup in 1973.

Only Humans shed emotional tears.

Christionizing Reality TV shows. Jon Acuff is the man.

Written with a Hint of Jealousy

Today I confirmed an epiphany that I had prior to starting my blog. The mix of writing and fame can produce a powerful potion. A potion that has the ability to bring giants to their knees, convert seeds to redwood trees, and even doctors and swamped medical students to a state of silent, devoted attention. Just kidding about the first two.

Picture this: A group of medical students are bombarded by classes, readings, electives sign ups, lockers, buying supplies, moving in, and socializing. We've been receiving thirty to forty emails a day from interest groups, organizations, social events, deans etc. But we push it all aside to sit in silence for a few hours.

Just beyond them are the busy clinicians and scientists with nationally recognized research projects and dozens of patients to see and surgeries to do.

At 1pm everyone gathers.

An brief speech is given by a med student to introduce a famous UCSD physician who has the privilege of introducing national best selling author of Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese. I've never seen a introduction to an introduction to an introduction before, but today was a novelty.

There is a hierarchy of big fish in the medical community but only one will be heard today.

For a full hour, not a single whisper is heard, nor computer open while Verghese lectures about meaning, physician suicide and his experiences as a bedside doctor. When Verghese's voice is not audible, it's so silent that the rythmic beeping of a a construction truck can be heard just outside.

And after an hour of talking, his advice and words of wisdom are solicited from both practitioners and students. We wanted to know about his opinions on the use of hands as a doctor, of smell in his book, and the relevance of the characters in his book.

Never mind what the accomplished dean sitting in front of him may think of hands and patient contact.

We are the congregation and he is our pastor.

Forget the emails, the medical school planning, our families, and all other activities.

The man has come. The man who placed words on a page and became widely recognized for it.

And we all look on, starstruck with great admiration of our poetic hero.

Now, Abraham Verghese is more than a great writer. He is a physician born in Ethiopia who has lived a marvelous and inspirational life. And, although I doubt he has much time to attend to patients while touring the U.S. after writing his book, I know him to be an articulate human being with sound advice.

But what makes our faculty, and deans and two hundred other busy students take three hours out of their days to offer undivided attention to another human being?

Can writing really be THAT powerful?

Can fame make us sacrifice THAT much of our day?

Is Abraham Verghese part SuperGod or just another physician?

Well done, Dr. Verghese, you have captivated us all.

The Tuesday Take Away (week 3)

Since I begin medical school today...dramatic pause...gasp...and CHEER! I’ve been reading up on a few more medically related topics. Still Muslims, Marijuana, and Finland snuck their way in.

Hockey enforcers are turning to alcohol and other addictions to soothe problems while paying in deaths.

Teachers are highly regarded in Finland. This fuels the jealousy (or admiration) of American superintendents and education activists.

Supposedly, people only wash their hands 60% of the time after using the bathroom. This statistic is even lower for doctors between seeing
patients. Sick. Just sick.

Argentina is on the up from 2001’s 100 Billion dollar default and this article says why. Love the title on this one: “The Turnaround Tango.”

NY Times on the Health Care Crisis
"American health care tends to divide the population into insiders and outsiders. Insiders, who have good insurance, receive everything modern medicine can provide, no matter how expensive. Outsiders, who have poor insurance or none at all, receive very little. To take just one example, one study found that among Americans diagnosed with colorectal cancer, those without insurance were 70 percent more likely than those with insurance to die over the next three years."

Mapping Marijuana in the USA: Where it’s expensive and where it’s dirt cheap.

David Carreon on questioning the framework of food banks and blindly giving money. Based on an essay by the world’s all time 2nd richest person, Andrew Carnegie.

There’s now hope for the shaky handed phlebotomist.

A hilarious video on 1st year diagnosing a patient as a 1st year medical student.

A great article by Steven Koll on why many Muslims are angry with the U.S.
“The United State props us autocratic governments on the basis that they are relatively more progressive - according to the assumed Western narrative - than what the people would do if they had their way. When the Algerian military in 1991 overturned the results of a democratic election when it appeared that an Islamist party would prevail, America and other Western governments turned a blind eye. When democratic forces arose in Tunisia and Egypt, Muslims perceive that the United States only joined the parade when the outcome was irreversible.”

Learning and Memory. Way more than you ever wanted to know, but very insightful material!

A beautifully written article by the author of Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese (who I will meet today) on the irreplaceable patient doctor relationship and the importance of physical examination. I take refuge in articles that confirm the ability of humans to perform as technology cannot.

Medical School Update!! (Although it hasn't officially started)

First, a side note: When I created this blog, I promised myself that I would NOT write a single entry about my day to day events. Frankly, it's a little egotistical and boring. Instead, I would share stories, special experiences, interesting articles and whatever else not involving the day to day updates. But, I am just entering medical school and since it is a once-in-my-lifetime event, I will share you a bit of day to day happenings.

I've been attending orientation for the past week. This means an 8am-4pm activity time which includes lectures by the deans and medical student panels to pump us up, tours, and activities to make us crack our shells. Every day, there are also optional social events afterward from usually 5:30pmish to the night. The other night, I stayed on campus from 7:30am-5:30pm and then headed to the beach until 9pm. All for orientation events and socials. So far it's been overwhelming, interesting, fun and exhausting.

On the first day, the medical students and staff surprised us by giving us a tour of the new 70 million dollar medical building ( 35 million dollar over budget). It is BEAUTIFUL and completely surprising to me since I have not stepped on campus for over a year. Some of the highlights are:

1. Our lecture hall is about one thousand times nicer than any place we took classes in the undergraduate campus. Each student has a desk similar to that of the senators in Washington D.C. They are all wooden, and spacious with brand new office chairs and include a personal lamp in case we need more light. The room is like a massive opera house with reverberating acoustics.

2. The practice operation room inside the building includes new state-of-the-art equipment including a micro-optic camera, and all of the technology necessary for laperoscopic (key-hole) surgery. The technician said they will probably bring in live pigs to do operations.

3. Our patient simulation room where we take physical exams and do patient interviews is also brand spanking new. There is also a sliding computer that is built into the wall outside of the room that is height adjustable. They said we could log into our account to begin a video inside the room, then practice our verbal tests, and watch ourselves later at home. Pretty advanced if you ask me.

4. The entire building is OURS for studying. We are the only ones with access to it which of course makes us feel special.

They also told us that they are doubling the number of available spots for the Free Clinic Project at UCSD. Our free clinic is nationally acclaimed, but the number of spots to work in as 1st years is usually very limited. The 2nd year medical students rave about their experiences at the free clinic so I’m getting excited about that.

We have 125 students in our class. It’s been very fun and a little overwhelming getting to know all of them in this past week. The questions of “where are you from?” “Where are you living?” “And what did you do in your year off?” continue to run off the tongue from everyone. So in a way it feels like going to college all over again, but the students are far more interesting. Most of them took time off between now and undergrad and traveled, worked, did Teach for America, a fulbright or some other unusual activity. One student worked in presidential secret service for around 10 years. Another helped win the NCAA national volleyball championships. One of our students is a woman with three children, the oldest of which is 13. Another guy grew up in Puerto Rico and did his undergrad there too. Overall, the class is on average 23, claims residency in California and did their undergrad at UCSD. Wait...I’m 23, A CA resident, and a Triton Alum. Guess I’m not such an oddball after all.

Probably, the most eventful day of our week-long orientation was the blood draw session. I always thought they would have us practice sticking bananas or some synthetic skin before poking patients. Turns out we had to be guinea pigs for each other :-o So with a 21 gauge needle and a shaky, novice hand, each student carefully stabbed his partner’s cubital fossa vein. Usually saying something like “Sorry, Sorry” when things did not go right. It’s a simple procedure, but requires gauging your speed. Poking too slow means more pain for the patient and going to fast could mean puncturing through both layers of the vein. To add a challenge, we had to keep the needle stationary in the vein while pushing a suction tube into the back of it. That meant pulling with one hand and pushing with the other and often times pushing the needle further in, or removing it completely. All said and done, we made it through and I walked away with a band aid on each arm.

Class starts Tuesday and the new curriculum includes 4 hours a week of a new approach called Problem Based Learning (PBL). PBL means more group discussions and application of what we learn in lectures to real life cases. It takes a bit more Sherlock Holmes mystery, but studies show that you will learn better when you can apply and relate to it. I’ve never been a fan of group work, but I think this could be ok. I will definitely make us more accountable and space out less.

Time will tell....