Russian Orthodox Church Quotes

As a child, I had no interest in science whatsoever - then I started writing and recognized how relevant it was. My first book about science and medicine captured the world of organ transplantation in 1989 from the points of view of all of the participants - scientists, surgeons, social workers, organ recipients and even donor families.

I encourage everyone I know to sign an organ donor card, but if someone doesn't want to sign, that's his or her choice. If someone isn't willing to give an organ, however, why should that person be allowed to receive an organ?

May I never see in the patient anything but a fellow creature in pain.

When my father passed away, he had his organs donated. In that painful moment, I was deeply comforted knowing that my father would be able to give others a second chance at life. That is why I encourage everyone to sign up to be a donor.

I hope more people decide to become organ donors.

The only way to do the human rights thing is to do the right thing medically.

I think you should automatically donate your organs because that would turn the balance of organ donation in a huge way. I would donate whatever anybody would take, and I'd probably do the cremation bit.

We are born with two kidneys and only need one to survive. Maybe God gave us the other one so that we could give it away.

I want to be helpful and give back to the society when I die. There are so many people in this world who are not able to see God's beautiful creations or enjoy this life. If my eyes or other organs can help even one individual, I will be happy that my life has been of use.

Not wanting to give everyone in your life one of your kidneys is not the same thing as hoping they die of kidney failure.

But most importantly, we can all be donors. It does not matter how old you are, your race, where you live; all of us can give the gift of life.

I feel that the world is increasingly about the bottom line, and not so much about human respect or human dignity. In that regard, people who care about other people will not be in a position to make choices and do things that other people who they're competing against will get to do.

How can you regret helping a suffering patient?

As I've met clinicians in my travels, time after time I've been inspired to hear why people went into medicine: to apply their way-above-average minds (and hearts) to work that's beyond most people's capacity, and perhaps save a few lives.

Given my absolute druthers, I would certainly like to see that every part of my body is used for spare parts for science.

Even putting aside the Judeo-Christian morality upon which the Constitution and our nation's culture are based, the notion of forced euthanasia would contradict the long-held body of medical ethics to which all American doctors must adhere.

A heck of a lot more accountability comes from individuals or the church doing it than the government, that signs off on helping people at 5 o'clock, because it comes from the heart, not from a badge or a mandate.

I think the personal satisfaction of doing good in the community and increasing value and holding true to the Hippocratic oath and being able to provide services to those that are in need is very strong moral reason to provide services for the underserved.

When we're talking about medical care we're talking about our sense of values. Do we think human life is important? Do we think that the best medical care which is available is something to which people are entitled, by virtue of belonging to a civilized community?

I am not prepared to explain to a sick child with cystic fibrosis, facing death and fighting for breath, the ethical grounds that hinder the science which could save him.

It is the duty of the doctor to prolong life. It is not his duty to prolong dying.

The cloning of human beings can corrupt the natural foundations of childbirth, consanguinity, motherhood and fatherhood. A child can become a sister to her mother, a brother to his father or a daughter to his or her grandfather. The psychological consequences of cloning are also extremely dangerous. A human being, who came to being as a result of this procedure, can feel not like an independent person but only "a copy" of someone who lives or lived before. It should be also considered that experiments with human cloning will inevitably produce as "by-products" numerous unfulfilled lives and, most probably, the emergence of a numerous unsustainable posterity. At the same time, the cloning of isolated organic cells and tissues is not an encroachment on the dignity of the personality and in a number of cases has proved helpful in the biological and medical practice.

The practice of physic [Medicine] is jostled by quacks on the one side, and by science on the other.

Whereas religions may serve a benign purpose by letting many people feel comfortable with the level of morality they themselves can attain, no religion holds its members to the high standards of moral responsibility that the secular world of science and medicine does!

My success in transplanting arteries between animals has pioneered surgical techniques that being closer the day when hearts and other organs will be transplanted into humans. No effort should be spared to reach this goal.