If you want a show that hands out life lessons to you on the fly, then Grey’s Anatomy is where you need to be. The series’ style ensures that all the doctors featured hand out inspirational and real advice to the viewer, making it a show that one should check out to find perspective.
The doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial have been through thick and thin with each other and by themselves. They’ve developed into better people through their experiences with patients, as well as their personal lives providing them reasons to grow. For you to know the kind of thinking that goes in this hospital, here are 10 quotes straight from Grey Sloan Memorial.
“If you aren’t willing to keep looking for light in the darkest of places without stopping…you will never succeed.” - Amelia Shepherd
Whether it is one’s profession or personal life, there will always be the arrival of struggle. No-one likes to go through tough times, but you still have to do it because there’s a lot riding on it.
Amelia had the right idea here, as success doesn’t come naturally. One has to look in the right places, even in the darkest of times, in order to succeed. Giving up and quitting isn’t an option either, because these things take time and effort. Amelia’s given a lot of flak by the fanbase for being rather hysterical, but this was a nice reflection on the value of waiting it out.
“Pretty good is not good enough, I want to be great.” - Cristina Yang
You want your doctor to be perfect in their craft, considering this is a life or death matter after all. The doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial do take their work seriously, but none more so than Cristina Yang did.
She was the perfectionist the field of medicine needed, as Cristina would go to any lengths to ensure she learned what it took to be a surgeon of esteemed recognition. In fact, Cristina ruined all her relationships because of her career; it caused significant other emotional pain, but Cristina can still live her life on her own terms.
“The future is the home of our deepest fears and our wildest hopes.” - Owen Hunt
If you were to ask a person if they would want to travel to their past or their future, the majority will answer in the former’s favor because the future is scary to behold. Even crazier, though, is the fact that this feared unknown is sprinkled with a lot of hope.
While people don’t know what to expect from our coming days, they still hold out for something better to come along. Owen has seen literal trauma in the flesh, both personally and in his patients, and having respect for the future is one way he functions.
“It’s good to be scared. It means you still have something to lose.” - Richard Webber
Richard is an example of a guy who learns from his mistakes - he always messes up, but then grows from the experience to the point that he doesn’t repeat it. The magnitude of his mistakes have seen Richard lose his wife, the woman he was in love with, the love of his daughter, and almost the loss of his career due to his reliance on the bottle.
However, he’s still the kind of guy who retains some level of optimism, as he figures that he still has things to lose - which must mean that all is still not lost, and can be salvaged.
“Maybe we have to get a little messed up, before we can step up.” - Alex Karev
Alex barely has any patience or ability to contain his rage, which has led to him being down in the dumps as consequence for his actions. He’s been in the strangest of scenarios among the cast of doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial, which includes the occasion he was shot.
Despite suffering quite a great deal, Alex generally keeps his chin up in the grand scheme of things because he learned to accept that messy things were bound to happen to him, and that it was better to take these in stride and make these experiences his strength.
“Breakthroughs don’t happen because of the medicine. Real breakthroughs happen because someone is scared to death to stop trying.” - Derek Shepherd
In one particular season, Derek gave up on being a doctor due to losing a patient, which was a stark departure from the generally optimistic man who never quit on his patients. While advancements in medicine have brought cures to a number of ailments, it really isn’t the achievement of machines; rather, it is the work of individuals.
When there are people who just don’t quit and strive to make things better, then breakthroughs are bound to happen. We saw how the hospital suffered when Derek quit, but it took him getting back in the game and saving more lives to make a difference and put those demons to rest.
“The problem is, fairy tales don’t come true. It’s the nightmares that always seem to become the reality.” - Meredith Grey
Unfortunately, while people could have a lifetime of happiness with them, it’s the bad times that they remember the most. Likewise, wishful thinking sort of sets one up for disappointment because life just isn’t that fair.
Eventually, you face bad scenarios that you hoped wouldn’t transpire, while the fairy tales that you hoped would see reality remain in your mind. It’s all too bad, but at least understanding that’s how the world works like Meredith did at least stems the disappointment.
“I’m a superstar. A superstar with a scalpel.” - Calliope Torres
Being a doctor requires extreme levels of confidence; a surgeon needs that more than anyone. This is why the best way to deal with any bouts of indecision is to remind oneself that you’re a star. While you don’t develop powers like the ones they have in the Marvel Universe, it is still empowering to think like this.
No matter what kind of contribution you’re making, that contribution is valuable in some way. In Callie’s case, it was her ability with a scalpel that made her a superstar. It might sound silly, but the work she put in was far from a laughing matter.
“You have to go back to the beginning to understand the end.” - Teddy Altman
Have you ever wondered where things went wrong when they did? It’s a habit everyone has where they tend to question how they landed themselves in a particular situation. Perhaps, following Teddy’s advice would put an end to questions like this.
Every story has a beginning, and even if one were to deviate away from where they started, the answer still lies at the source. It’s by tracing back to who you started out being that you can understand how you became the way you are now.
“I am woman. Hear me roar.” - Miranda Bailey
Miranda is the type of feminist the world needs. At a time where favoring women all the time is the go-to practice, Bailey was the one who set the record straight by pointing out to Richard that a feminist looks at the situation where a woman faces her own consequences.
Rather than coddle Meredith like Richard always did, Miranda pointed out that she had given all her effort into grooming Meredith into the doctor she was now, and if she didn’t want to heed Miranda’s advice then that was Meredith’s decision. Miranda looks out for women, but that doesn’t mean she blindly favors them.
