Lister objected to issuing bills to those whom he treated and lectured his students that they should “not charge for [their] services as a merchant does for his goods.” Reflecting the ideals of his faith, Lister believed that the greatest reward for a surgeon was the knowledge that he had performed an act of beneficence for the sick. “Shall we charge for the blood which is drawn, or the pain which we cause?” he asked his students.
