Look Who it Was Random video

Sherwin Nuland - 'I'm fascinated by the beauty of my cadences' (5/67)

266 views · Published 14 September 2017 · 1:58 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: Web of Stories - Life Stories of Remarkable People · 2017 · Science & Technology

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To listen to more of Sherwin Nuland’s stories, go to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnoweXrGs70&list=PLVV0r6CmEsFwS1mg7ZIN3gt8yKmoZ_o_F

US surgeon Sherwin Nuland (1930-2014) taught bioethics, the history of medicine, and medicine at Yale University. He was the author of ‘How We Die’, which made ‘The New York Times’ bestseller list and won the National Book Award. [Listener: Christopher Sykes]

TRANSCRIPT: In fact, my daughter, who is now 26, about four or five years ago… was sitting in the kitchen with me, and I was reading a book that I had written. I said… 'I am…' words to this effect, 'I am fascinated by the beauty of my cadences'. And she thought that was hilarious, so she got a little blackboard that was actually in the kitchen, and she wrote it… down. It's still there. Whenever it starts to fade, I ask her to fill it in a little bit more, because I have to be reminded of my own egocentricity. But you've got to be a little egocentric to be a writer. You have to assume that everybody wants to hear what you're writing, and you have to… some people say you have to write with authority. Well, I'm not quite sure what authority is. I write out of egocentricity. I was a beloved child. My brother was the hooligan and I was the good kid. I got very good grades in school, I did all the right things. He read constantly. He was always reading. But I did far more than read. I was a very apt student. I can see myself at a desk, with my hands clasped together so the teacher would give me some commendation of some kind.

I even skipped a grade in fifth grade. Just, sort of… a self-inspired golden boy. It's almost embarrassing to look back at me… myself in those days, living in this aura, cocoon, of I'm the most important person in the world and everybody wants to hear about what I've got to tell.

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