The doctor I would want for myself or for anyone else I cared about would be one who understands that disease is more than just a clinical entity; it is an experience and a metaphor, with a message that must be listened to. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
Patients want to be seen as people. For me, the person’s life comes first; the disease is simply one aspect of it, which I can guide my patients to use as a redirection in their lives. When doctors look at their patients, however, they are trained to see only the disease. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
I have always made a distinction between healing and curing. To me, ‘healed’ represents a condition of one’s life; ‘cured’ relates strictly to one’s physical condition. In other words, there may be healed quadriplegics and AIDS patients, and cured cancer patients who are leading unhealthy lives. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
I have learned to become not an M.D. but a ‘C.D.’ for the wounded people I meet. Yes, a ‘Chosen Dad’ who may not like their behavior but loves and reparents them and helps them to heal their lives and find self-worth and self-esteem and save their lives. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
For me, consciousness is non-local, not limited to the body, and can exist independent of it. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
As doctors, we are not trained to communicate and understand the power of our words as they relate to a patient’s ability and desire to survive. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
Parents, teachers, clergy and physicians change lives with their words. It is hypnotic for a child or patient to hear an authority figure’s words. As I am always sharing, ‘wordswordswords’ can become ‘swordswordswords,’ and we can kill or cure with either words or swords. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
Society should see parenting as a public health issue and help parents to bring their children up feeling loved. We have birthing classes, but no parenting classes. The latter is desperately needed if we are to avoid self-destruction. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
I was called a ‘CD’ by a suicidal teenager, who is alive today because I became her ‘Chosen Dad,’ who loved her. We all have the potential to re-parent ourselves and others. Bernie Siegel Read Quote
