"The early surgeons weren't the hypereducated cowboy-saviors that they are today" (Chapter 1, pg. 28.)

"I want you to know that you are always there when I see patients. When I palpate an abdomen, yours are the organs I imagine. When I listen to a heart, I recall holding your heart" (Chapter 2, pg. 38.)

"This woman lies in a mud of her own making" (Chapter 3, pg. 68.)

"It's difficult to put into words the smell of decomposing human. It is dense and cloying, sweet but not flower sweet" (Chapter 3, pg. 70.)

"There is one thing that dead people excel at. They're very good at handling pain" (Chapter 4, pg. 88.)

"'People very close to an explosion come apart,' said Shanahan" (Chapter 5, pg. 117.)

"We're not talking about research that will help mankind save lives; we're talking about research that will help man take lives" (Chapter 6, pg. 142.)

"To my mind there is no 'greater office' than...