Solving for Why Quotes

“The only thing that can save us from our irascibly self-centered existence is to make sure that our existence is in the service of others”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“Focus on the why, even if the why gives you results that go against everything you’d hoped to accomplish.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“His why—to restore to his patients their fundamental right to a seat at the table of humanity—bleeds into everyone he meets.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“Purpose, meaning, and contentment exist when why is at the center, and when we construct our paths to lead to it. Not the other way around.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“This is the church of the outcast, the shunned, the spurned, the Other. This is the congregation of the sideshow. This is my people. This is worship.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“Solving for why hasn't made life any less routine. The difference, however, is obvious: routine was once the anesthetic I used to numb myself to the moving sidewalk. Now, it is the how with which I live out my why.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“I've learned to fall in love with failure not because failure is pleasant, but because it is beautiful. Failure tells me I tried something I don't yet know how to do. It indicates I'm moving. And it shows me that I'm no longer on the anodyne path.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“Turning our hearts toward the poor, then, can't just mean dealing with pecuniary poverty. It can't just mean a monthly donation. It has to mean diving in, walking alongside, breaking down the hegemony, and fighting the ethos of the Other, wherever we find it. It must mean taking a serious look at our own role in perpetuating the structural inequities Dr. Farmer describes.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“In the thin places, we see that our perceptions of reality, of God, and of our lives are not divine mandates. We see that there's more than just the path we're on.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose

“Work provides us three things: a means of survival, a source of self-determination, and a connection with others. What it doesn't provide is a why. Work is a path, not purpose.”
― Mark Shrime, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose