Andrew Weil

Andrew Weil

32 quotes

Physician and author and wordsmith — Andrew Weil (b. 1942) is an American voice whose observations cut across disciplines. Whether reflecting on Health or Gardening, Andrew Weil brought uncommon clarity to every subject. Discover 42 of Andrew Weil's most memorable quotes, ranging across Health, Gardening, Food, Medical, and Home. A favorite of many readers: "I fully support a national health care program for the U.S."

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“Gardening is not trivial. If you believe that it is, closely examine why you feel that way. You may discover that this attitude has been forced upon you by mass media and the crass culture it creates and maintains. The fact is, gardening is just the opposite - it is, or should be, a central, basic expression of human life.”

— Andrew Weil

Attitude

All Quotes by Andrew Weil

“Human beings have survived for millennia because most of us make good decisions about our health most of the time.”

— Andrew Weil

Health

“The World Health Organization has recognized acupuncture as effective in treating mild to moderate depression.”

— Andrew Weil

Health

“My passion for gardening may strike some as selfish, or merely an act of resignation in the face of overwhelming problems that beset the world. It is neither. I have found that each garden is just what Voltaire proposed in Candide: a microcosm of a just and beautiful society.”

— Andrew Weil

Gardening

“Low levels of vitamin D in the population as a whole suggest that most people need to take a vitamin D supplement. This may be especially true for seniors, as the ability to synthesize vitamin D in the skin declines with age.”

— Andrew Weil

Age

“The most common objection that I hear to walking as exercise is that it's too easy, that only sweaty, strenuous activity offers real benefits. But there is abundant evidence that regular, brisk walking is associated with better health, including lower blood pressure, better moods and improved cholesterol ratios.”

— Andrew Weil

Health

“If we can make the correct diagnosis, the healing can begin. If we can't, both our personal health and our economy are doomed.”

— Andrew Weil

Health

“A beautiful bouquet or a long-lasting flowering plant is a traditional gift for women, but I have recommended that both men and women keep fresh flowers in the home for their beauty, fragrance, and the lift they give our spirits.”

— Andrew Weil

Beauty

“Most American diets, even bad ones, provide more than enough calcium for bone health, especially for men.”

— Andrew Weil

Health

“I am not against all forms of high-tech medicine. Drugs and surgeries have a secure place in the treatment of serious health conditions. But modern American medicine treats almost every health condition as if it were an emergency.”

— Andrew Weil

Health

“I fully support a national health care program for the U.S.”

— Andrew Weil

Health

“Technology has a shadow side. It accounts for real progress in medicine, but has also hurt it in many ways, making it more impersonal, expensive and dangerous. The false belief that a safety net of sophisticated drugs and machines stretches below us, permitting risky or lazy lifestyle choices, has undermined our spirit of self-reliance.”

— Andrew Weil

Technology

“Everyone prefers some foods over others, but some adults take this tendency to an extreme. These people tend to prefer the kinds of bland food they may have enjoyed as children - such as plain or buttered pasta, macaroni and cheese, cheese pizza, French fries and grilled cheese sandwiches - and to restrict their eating to just a few dishes.”

— Andrew Weil

Food

“Gardening is not trivial. If you believe that it is, closely examine why you feel that way. You may discover that this attitude has been forced upon you by mass media and the crass culture it creates and maintains. The fact is, gardening is just the opposite - it is, or should be, a central, basic expression of human life.”

— Andrew Weil

Attitude

“In the world at large, people are rewarded or punished in ways that are often utterly random. In the garden, cause and effect, labor and reward, are re-coupled. Gardening makes sense in a senseless world. By extension, then, the more gardens in the world, the more justice, the more sense is created.”

— Andrew Weil

Gardening

“Meditation while walking has a long, noble history in ancient spiritual disciplines.”

— Andrew Weil

History

“By keeping my hand in that, it's the way I keep learning. The main way you learn in medicine is by practicing and working with patients.”

— Andrew Weil

Learning

“You can't afford to get sick, and you can't depend on the present health care system to keep you well. It's up to you to protect and maintain your body's innate capacity for health and healing by making the right choices in how you live.”

— Andrew Weil

Health

“As an American, you have a right to good health care that is effective, accessible, and affordable, that serves you from infancy through old age, that allows you to go to practitioners and facilities of your choosing, and that offers a broad range of therapeutic options.”

— Andrew Weil

Age

“Each day as I travel through downtown Tucson, I am amazed at how quickly the most ancient of human behaviors have changed. For as long as there have been Homo sapiens - roughly 200,000 years - people have filled their lives principally with two activities: talking directly with other people, and doing physical things.”

— Andrew Weil

Travel

“It does kids no favors, and sets them up for a potential lifetime of poor health and social embarrassment, to excuse them from family meals of real food. Everyone benefits from healthy eating, but it is particularly crucial at the beginning of life.”

— Andrew Weil

Food