Vivek Murthy Quotes

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Vivek Murthy

Profession : Public Servant

Birth : July 10, 1977

Many people feel that if they're lonely, that means that they're not likable or that they're broken in some way.

Vivek Murthy

When people tell you that you're less-than and that you don't matter and that you're inferior, you internalize some of that.

Vivek Murthy

Surgeon generals are appointed by presidents, but our work isn't about politics. Our highest duty to to the public. Our true guide is science. Our job is to speak the truth about public health, even when it's controversial or perceived as political.

Vivek Murthy

Our nation absolutely has what it takes to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic that's claimed tens of thousands of our loved ones. We have the talent, resources and technology.

Vivek Murthy

I can learn a lot from reading briefing books and talking to experts, but that pales in comparison to what I can learn from going out and talking to people about what they're actually experiencing and hearing about their ideas.

Vivek Murthy

With any sort of major change we need to make in our lives, it's much easier to do it with other people. We succeed and thrive best when we work together and support each other. When we struggle alone, that's when the struggle can seem impossible.

Vivek Murthy

We can no longer remain within our exam rooms and ignore what happens in our communities. As physicians and dentists, we must have a presence in both places. Our sacred responsibility is both to help the patient in front of us and also to safeguard the health of the nation.

Vivek Murthy

Empathy is choosing to see ourselves in another despite our differences. It's recognizing that the same humanity - the same desire for meaning, fulfillment and security - exists in each of us, even if it's expressed uniquely.

Vivek Murthy

Giving and receiving kindness are easy ways to feel good and to help others feel good too. People, organizations, and societies thrive when they are grounded in a culture of kindness.

Vivek Murthy

While loneliness has the potential to kill, connection has even more potential to heal.

Vivek Murthy

It turns out that our ability to connect with other people is driven by our ability to connect deeply with ourselves. And that can be just a few minutes sitting on your porch feeling the breeze against your face. That can be a few moments spent in meditation or in prayer or remembering three things you're grateful for.

Vivek Murthy

We can't underestimate the power that we have as individuals to provide the support that people need to provide that transition from a place of pain to a place of possibility.

Vivek Murthy

When it comes to our relationship with loneliness, specifically, it's important to understand how our relative introversion or extroversion informs our preference for social interaction.

Vivek Murthy

So my weakness is sweets. I like bread pudding and cheesecake in particular.

Vivek Murthy

If you're very introverted, you prefer to spend much of your time alone, and when you do connect, you'd rather get together with one or two close friends than face a crowd.

Vivek Murthy

We forget some of the oldest medicines we have are love and compassion, and they can be deployed by everyone.

Vivek Murthy

Without strong communities, we cannot pull together during times of hardship. Our diversity turns from a source of strength to a source of conflict.

Vivek Murthy

Empathy has the power to bring together people who would otherwise never meet. It has the power to teach us and to reach us in moments of isolation when we think nobody understands.

Vivek Murthy

There are several factors in modern society that contribute to loneliness. One is that we are more mobile than we have been in decades past, which is fantastic in many respects, but also leads to us to move away from communities that we grew up with and got to know over time.

Vivek Murthy

When you help someone else, not only do they benefit, but you reaffirm to yourself that you have something of value to give them, and you help to strengthen and nurture a bond with an individual that you're helping.

Vivek Murthy