"I am dying from the treatment of too many physicians"
- Alexander the Great
About this Quote
Alexander the Great's quote is a reflection of his own mortality and the limitations of medication in his time. It recommends that he was suffering from a medical condition that was not treatable, which the treatments he was receiving from his doctors were not assisting. He was most likely conscious that his condition was terminal, and that the treatments he was receiving were only prolonging his suffering. The quote also talks to the powerlessness of physicians in the face of death, and the futility of their efforts to save a life. Alexander's quote is a reminder of the fragility of life and the limitations of medical science. It is a tip that, no matter how advanced our medical innovation ends up being, death is inescapable which doctors can only do so much to lengthen life.
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