Of Books and Men
Sir William Osler's advice to medical students — divide your attention equally between books and men. One teaches the details, the other teaches life.
Divide your attention equally between books and men. The strength of the student of books is to sit still — two or three hours at a stretch — eating the heart out of a subject with pencil and notebook in hand, determined to master the details and intricacies, focusing all your energies on its difficulties.
The strength of a student of men is to travel — to study men, their habits, character, mode of life, their behavior under varied conditions, their vices, virtues, and peculiarities. Begin with a careful observation of your fellow students and of your teachers; then, every patient you see is a lesson in much more than the malady from which he suffers.
— Sir William Osler, The Student Life