I, Quite Literally, Woke Up From A

The Pursuit Of Knowledge Is An Intoxicant, A Lure That Scientists And Explorers Have Known From Ancient Times; Indeed, Exhilaration In The Pursuit Of Knowledge Is Part Of What Has Kept Our Species So Adaptive.

I Think That One Of The Many Advantages Of Death Accruing Over A Long Period Of Time Is That You Do Have Time To Meet A Lot Of Other People Who Are Going Through Similar Situations And One Of The Great Delights Of Our Life Actually Was Sitting Around In Labs Waiting For The Results Of Tests And Talking To Other People Who Were Waiting To Find Out Whether Their Cancer Numbers Were Going In The Right Direction Or Not.

I Long Ago Abandoned The Notion Of A Life Without Storms, Or A World Without Dry And Killing Seasons. Life Is Too Complicated, Too Constantly Changing, To Be Anything But What It Is. And I Am, By Nature, Too Mercurial To Be Anything But Deeply Wary Of The Grave Unnaturalness Involved In Any Attempt To Exert Too Much Control Over Essentially Uncontrollable Forces. There Will Always Be Propelling, Disturbing Elements, And They Will Be There Until, As Lowell Put It, The Watch Is Taken From The Wrist.

Manic Depression Distorts Moods And Thoughts, Incites Dreadful Behaviors, Destroys The Basis Of Rational Thought, And Too Often Erodes The Desire And Will To Live.

Far Too Many Doctors-many Of Them Excellent Physicians-commit Suicide Each Year; One Recent Study Concluded That, Until Quite Recently, The United States Lost Annually The Equivalent Of A Medium-sized Medical School Class From Suicide Alone. Most Physician Suicides Are Due To Depression Or Manic-depressive Illness, Both Of Which Are Eminently Treatable. Physicians, Unfortunately, Not Only Suffer From A Higher Rate Of Mood Disorders Than The General Population, They Also Have A Greater Access To Very Effective Means Of Suicide.