The enemy

“The chronic pain patient who wants more and more pain meds isn’t the enemy. The pain meds are the enemy.”

The third New York

There are roughly three New Yorks. There is first the New York of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter— the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Of these trembling cities the greatest is the last— the city of final destination, the city that is a goal. It is the third city that accounts for New York’s high strung disposition, its poetical deportment, its dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements. Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion and each absorbs new York with the fresh eyes of an adventurer… —E.B. White, Here is New York, 1948

Quote: Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross is the … creator? inventor? discover-er? suggester? of the 5 stages of grief. You know: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance.

I often picture people who create these models or who are the eponym of anything clinical as being really dry and without personality. But most of the time they have pretty interesting stories! And in this case, a nice quote.