Suffering isn't ennobling, recovery is.
Christiaan BarnardRead
For a dying man it is not a difficult decision [to agree to become the world's first heart transplant] ... because he knows he is at the end. If a lion chases you to the bank of a river filled with crocodiles, you will leap into the water convinced you have a chance to swim to the other side. But you would not accept such odds if there were no lion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote illustrates that desperate situations can compel individuals to take risks they normally wouldn't consider.
Christiaan Barnard's quote reflects on the nature of decision-making under duress. It suggests that individuals facing imminent peril, like a dying man or someone pursued by a lion, may make choices that defy their usual caution or rational thinking, driven by the instinct to survive. Just as one may plunge into dangerous waters to escape a predator, life's most critical moments can encourage us to take unprecedented risks when we perceive the stakes to be high enough.
Themes
DecisionRiskSurvivalCourageDesperation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about overcoming fear and embracing challenges.
More from Christiaan Barnard
All quotes →It is infinitely better to transplant a heart than to bury it to be devoured by worms.
Christiaan BarnardRead
Similar quotes
I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
Safe is good for sidewalks and swimming pools, but life requires risk if we are to get anywhere.
Simon SinekRead
We need the courage to face the truth about what we are doing in the world and act responsibly to change it.
Daniel EllsbergRead
It's time Pakistani women are able to stand up and hold their oppressors accountable, no matter how strong or influential they are. Don't be scared. They are strong because we are weak - lets change that.
Momina MustehsanRead
Everything you want is on the other side of fear.
Jack CanfieldRead
The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we - in a less final, less heroic way - be willing to give of ourselves.
Ronald ReaganRead