Dr. Benjamin Rush Quote

"Let our pupil be taught that he does not belong to himself, but that he is public property. Let him be taught to love his family, but let him be taught, at the same time, that he must forsake, and even forget them, when the welfare of his country requires it."

by:	Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) signed the Declaration of Independence, physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educator, founder of Dickinson College
Source:	BENJAMIN RUSH PROPOSES A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR PENNSYLVANIA (1786) From Benjamin Rush, Essays: Literary, Moral, and Philosophical (Philadelphia. 1806), pp. 1-8.
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Categories:	Duty, Education, Patriotism, Service
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"Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution the time will come when medicine will organize itself into an undercover dictatorship. To restrict the art of healing to doctors and deny equal privileges to others will constitute the Bastille of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic." Dr. Benjamin Rush I would say this 230 year old quote by Dr. Benjamin Rush is prophetic. "Medicine" has organized itself into an undercover dictatorship. The art of healing has been restricted to doctors, and equal privileges have been denied to all others. This constitutes the Bastille of medical science, and is un-American, and despotic. Yet this is where we find ourselves in 2010. "Traditional American Medicine" has not only become an "undercover dictatorship," it has become the #1 cause of death in America. www.GojiTrees.info  -- Rich Tompkins, Paris, Arkansas      1 1
I lost all respect for Dr. Rush when I read this quote.  -- Walt, Idaho      2
Actually, that quote is bogus. I read a little more and found this. http://www.szasz.com/freeman7.html He never said that.  -- Michael
-- Gates, Alabama
It really doesn't matter if the quote is bogus or not, the fact is it's accurate! We as US citizens are required to submit to the medical practices of the doctors and medical profession in this country, and are allowed no choice in the matter.  -- John, Indianapolis
"Required to submit to medical practices of the doctors in the medical profession." I don't think so, you're going to have to expound on that statement John.  -- Mike, Pleasant Hill
Editor, please check where Michael says above and see if this quote is accurate.  -- cal, lewisville, tx      1
Just by looking a little deeper, I find Dr. Rush to have been at odds very much with George Washington. He seems to have been a pompus ass.  -- Ronw13, Yachats Or      2
Rush grew up in one of the areas where the Fabian Socialists had heavy influence and with his training in Scotland, his anti-liberty medical pursuits could only occur without England's controls.  -- Mike, Norwalk      2
The quote is true -- the source has been updated. The quote Rich Tompkins has provided is the one without a source, and it is also unlikely Rush ever said it as he could be considered one of the defenders of the 'Bastille of medical science.'  -- Editor, Liberty Quotes      1
"The free man owns himself. He can damage himself with either eating or drinking; he can ruin himself with gambling. If he does he is certainly a damn fool, and he might possibly be a damned soul; but if he may not, he is not a free man any more than a dog." -Gilbert Keith Chesterton "Let our pupil be taught that he does not belong to himself, but that he is public property." - Dr. Benjamin Rush  -- Robert, Kenosha      1
Sounds noble -- but service must be voluntary or else it is servitude.  -- E Archer, NYC      2
http://www.oldthinkernews.com/2012/11/27/benjamin-rush-medical-freedom/  -- john, Monticello
The quote doesn't necessarily mean people should follow the tyranny of the status quo. Although, most people in the world today are pretty ignorant and blindly follow whatever bolsheviks government says is best for them, and everyone around them. Milton Friedman used to say that the label of Good Housekeeping is not always the same thing, and that what we call healthcare in America is far more accurately stated as sick care. Pharmacological freedom, and prescriptive authority, should be an individual's right, imho.  -- Joe Marks, West Coast, USA      2

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