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"It helps a man immensely to be a bit of a hero worshipper, and the
stories of the lives of the masters of medicine do much to stimulate
our ambition and rouse our sympathies. If the life and work of such
men as Bichat and Laennec will not stir the blood of a young man and
make him feel proud of France and of Frenchmen, he must be a dull
and muddy-mettled rascal. In reading the life of Hunter, of Jenner,
who thinks of the nationality which is merged and lost in our
interest in the man and in his work! In the halcyon days of the
Renaissance there was no nationalism in medicine, but a fine
catholic spirit made great leaders like Vesalius, Eustachius,
Stenson and others at home in every country in Europe."
--Osler, _Aequanimitas and other Essays_.
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