Meredith Grey quotes from Grey's Anatomy

Meredith

[voice over] You would think weightlessness is a good thing, but it's not. Because people weren't meant to float. Without gravity, we lose blood volume, bone density, muscle. Without it, we're untethered. It may keep you centered. It may keep you safe.

Meredith

[voice over] In 1847, the American Medical Association published its code of ethics, in which physicians were encouraged to provide free services to the poor as part of their public duty. Hospitals were meant to be centers to care for the sick and poor. They were meant to be places of refuge, places to heal. But somewhere along the way, that changed. Healthcare became a commodity sold to those who can afford it rather than a physician's dutiful service to the public.

Meredith

[voice over] It's been said that you haven't lived today unless you have done something for someone who can never repay you. But that's easier said than done. Because when your life's a mess, it's hard to be much help to anyone else. I wish I had something more encouraging to say. And if that sounds too hard. Well, this might not be the life for you.

Meredith

[voice over] Since our hospital is a teaching program, many of our patients allow their surgeries to be filmed. It's great as a teaching tool. But if you screw up, it ends up online for the whole world to see. Your mistakes will be scrutinized, analyzed, studied, written about, argued over, watched and re-watched. We all make mistakes. We all have moments when we weren't the best surgeon or even the best person. We all have moments we'd rather not relive.

Meredith

[voice over] There are certain moments in my life that I wish I could relive: first day of internship, first solo surgery, first time I held my children in my arms. The last lucid conversation I had with my mother. But for every one of those there's one I wish I could forget or do differently. Those are the moments that keep me up at night. And no matter what I do, they keep coming back to haunt me.

Meredith

[voice over] Unless you're paid to be there, no one ever wants to go into an O.R. It's freezing, you're naked, and a stranger will be cutting into your body with knives. But what patients don't know and what we try to keep them from knowing is sometimes it's just as terrifying for us. Traumas, heart surgery, anything to do with the pancreas. Any surgeon who says they're not afraid of those is lying. But no matter how risky the surgery no matter how scared you might be your job is to reassure your patient and tell them, "Everything is going to be okay." Whether you believe it or not.

Meredith

[voice over] Sometimes, surgeries go better than planned. There's no better gift you can give someone than saying you saved the person they love. I look forward to those moments. Unfortunately, those perfect outcomes are rare. You would think it gets easier, but it doesn't. Each one hurts just as much as the last one. So, we hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Because the worst has a nasty way of finding you.

Meredith

[voice over] I've heard that when tidal waves hit, there are often people watching on shore. They see the disaster coming, see the horizon disappearing. They don't really see until it's too late. There's a lecture we take in residency that's meant to prepare us for such surprises. It's called Disaster Ethics Where future surgeons imagine what they would do when the unimaginable happens. But it's imperfect. Because while it's good to plan for the worst, you can't really know how you'll handle it until you're smack dab in the middle of it, under the wave, trying not to drown.

Meredith

[voice over] Disaster has a tendency to melt away everything else in life. So if you want to know who you'll be in a disaster, ask yourself: who am I now?

Meredith

[voice over] As proud as we surgeons are of our stitches, they aren't meant to be a permanent fix. Your body still has to do the real work. An army of different cells comes in to build new tissue. And eventually, you've produced enough collagen to heal. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't obsess about technique. Because even one mistake, one slip, can cost a lot of blood.

Meredith

[voice over] Medical schools often ask applicants for an essay describing a time they faced adversity and how they overcame it. They want to know how people will cope with the challenges they'll face as a doctor. Some students worry they have nothing to write about. I didn't have that problem.

Meredith

[voice over] Experts say the more resilient we are, the better we can face life's challenges. And the single biggest factor for cultivating resilience? Far away from home Positive relationships. So find your people and keep them close. Because when you're at your lowest those people get you through.

Meredith

[voice over] When a virus finds its way into our bodies our immune system unleashes an attack. It puts up a good fight and then stands down. Or at least that's what it's supposed to do. Sometimes the system works so hard that it goes completely off the rails. Immune cells start attacking healthy tissue. They flood the lungs, clot the blood, cause vessels to leak, and shut down organs. Our own body wreaks havoc on itself. It's called the cytokine storm. And it takes a miracle to stop it.

Meredith

[voice over]' Sometimes, when you think the storm has passed, you realize you were just in the eye of it.

Meredith

[voice over] The day you discharge a patient who nearly died is a very good day. You say your goodbyes. And you hope like hell you never see them again. Because when a patient does return, there's a very good chance you screwed up.