“Doctors mostly sustain themselves in a medium of false ideas, the word ‘doctor’ casting about them, so they think, a sort of magical aura.” — William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
That’s because they’re magicians
January 14th, 2012 · 2 Comments
Tags: Lit & Crit
2 responses so far ↓
1 Averil Dean // Jan 15, 2012 at 7:48 am
Having worked for and with doctors for twenty years, I’d have to agree that they all carry about them an aura of the shaman (or primadonna, as my mother the nurse would say). It used to make me roll my eyes, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more tolerant; after all, it’s one of the few professions on the planet in which you are not allowed to make a mistake. That sort of responsibility is bound to warp one’s psyche eventually.
2 Tetman Callis // Jan 15, 2012 at 8:13 am
That’s a very good point: they are not allowed to make a mistake. But they make them anyway, being human. Working on the horns of a dilemma, sometimes caught, tossed and gored.
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