A Way of Life

"A Way of Life" is the text of an address that Sir William Osler gave at Yale University in 1913. He recommends approaching life as a series of "day-tight compartments," which he likens to the water-tight compartments that keep a ship afloat. (an Interesting analogy just a year after the sinking of the Titanic sank). William Osler's point is that worrying about either the past or the future is a burden that does nothing but reduce your effectiveness. If you focus your attention on what you have to do today, then over time, a string of successful days will make for a successful life. He quotes Thomas Carlyle: "Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." William Osler primarily attributes his own success not to talent or intelligence, but to good habits, consistently practiced, day after day after day. This is a small book filled with simple, eloquent wisdom that is every bit as applicable today as it was in 1913.

Sir William Osler (1849-1919) was a Canadian physician. He has been called one of the greatest icons of modern medicine. Osler was a pathologist, educator, bibliophile, historian, author, and renowned practical joker. Perhaps Osler’s greatest contribution to medicine was to insist that students learned from seeing and talking to patients and the establishment of the medical residency. This latter idea spread across the English-speaking world and remains in place today in most teaching hospitals. Through this system, doctors in training make up much of a hospital’s medical staff. Osler was a prolific author and public speaker and his public speaking and writing were both done in a clear, lucid style. His most famous work, ’The Principles and Practice of Medicine’ quickly became a key text to students and clinicians alike. It continued to be published in many editions until 2001 and was translated into many languages. Osler’s essays were important guides to physicians. The title of his most famous essay, Aequanimitas, espousing the importance of imperturbability, is the motto on the Osler family crest and is used on the Osler housestaff tie and scarf at Hopkins.