Doctors is all swabs...and that doctor there, why, what do he know about seafaring men? I been in places hot as pitch, and mates dropping round with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the sea with earthquakes - what do the doctor know of lands like that? - and I lived on rum, I tell you.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A sailor distrusts land-based doctors, claiming they lack knowledge of the dangers at sea.
- In plain terms
- Doctors don't understand the dangers sailors face on the ocean.
- What can you take from it?
- Experience in a specific field grants authority outsiders may lack.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who truly knows your risks?
- When is experience better than theory?
Another view
It dismisses specialized medical training entirely based on setting.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
Fifteen men on the dead man's chest - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Permalink to quote #42 'What is the Black Spot, Captain?' 'That's a summons, mate.'
Permalink to quote #44 To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.
Permalink to quote #41
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