Some Days You Can’t Save Them All Quotes

“Everybody is in such a hurry to achieve something or become someone, that we forget to be thankful for what we have in the now. We are always where we are meant to be.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“Never settle for anything less. The greatest injustice you can do to yourself is to be mediocre. Do your best, even if you have to make a lot of sacrifices, even if you're afraid of failing, even if people discourage you and say otherwise. When you know that you have done all that you can, there will be no room for regret, shame, anger, humiliation, and frustration, no matter what.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“To be heard is a human need. To listen is where compassion begins.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“Science would not have definite answers. Frankly, neither would faith. But it only the steadfast belief that a higher power is at work - that some greater purpose awaits - which helps a wounded surgeon get through days of incomprehensible losses. Every death leaves a scar that persists for a lifetime, a reminder that you are not infallible, and would never be.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“When they accept their fate without any vestige of anger, when they remain grateful despite your shortcomings - that is when it hurts the most.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“How can it be the same pair of hands? How many mistakes would it take to attain near perfection demanded from a neurosurgeon? How do you walk into a hospital room and say hello to your next patient, when you feel that you had not been good enough for the last one? How may unforgivable errors can you cary in your conscience before you give in to the discouraging voice that says, Are you sure this is the right path for you? How much is too much empathy, how little is too little care?”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“Some days, you could not save them all, but my patients - with their promise of a good story - reminded me that I should never stop trying.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“Anong kwento mo sa akin ngayon?"

Myriad answers to a simple question, which, I discovered, had an unparalleled power to make my patients and their families feel important, especially when they had travelled for four hours and waited in queue for four more, enduring hunger, humidity, and the perspiration of their compatriots. By veering from the standard "Ano po ang masakit sa inyo?" I learned much more about the people I served and worked hard for.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“This is courage and this is love. Forgiveness becomes irrelevant.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“The temptation to quit was a traitor. It would not barge in boldly during the peak of my workload; often I was too preoccupied to contemplate on the dismal state of my personal life. Instead, it would reemerge during that silent minute in between surgeries, as I slumped on the floor and waited for the next patient to be brought in. It stared at me from a corner as I waited for the elevator doors to open, me holding both stretcher bed and oxygen tank and it's only an hour past midnight. It would whisper in my ear, to wake me up from a nap on the first Sunday afternoon that I got to spend at home in a long time. It would hold open my apartment door, as I donned my white coat, grabbed my keys, and rushed to morning ward rounds.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“When you manipulate the fibers of being, the lines are not always drawn clearly. Even the slightest error may lead to prolonged suffering, permanent disability, or worse, even death. Often, because of socioeconomic reasons, one chance is all you get.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“The joy of neurosurgery is in allowing one's patients to live longer, happier, and more meaningful lives, be it from the simplest or most complicated of operations... If you do your job well, you scrub out of the operating room knowing that you have given your patients a chance to return to their previous lives, before their illnesses started to define who they were and limit what they could do. On a lucky day, you may even save them from dying.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“...your life is no more important than any PGH patients, and that you do not deserve to die a needless death, just because you happened to be poor and Filipino at the same time.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“Dealing with life and death is much less complicated and much more fulfilling than deciding between right and wrong.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“But it is only the steadfast belief that a higher power is at work - that some greater purpose awaits - which helps a wounded surgeon get through days of incomprehensible losses. Every death leaves a scar that persists for a lifetime, a reminder that you are not infallible, and would never be.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“We are not here to do what is easy. We are here to do what is right.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“I had a moral obligation to study my cases and develop my surgical skills because this wasn't a video game where I could just press the restart button and instantly I would regain all the lives I began with. Remorse is a powerful thing.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“Everybody made mistakes, but to commit an error and not recognize it - or worse, to refuse to admit or lie about it - these were capital sins. To be incorrigible was to dig your own grave.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All

“We all move forward through the kindness of others.”
― Ronnie E. Baticulon, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All