From the autobiography of Nikolai Mikhailovich Amosov
“… So life passed. What was the most important thing about her? Probably surgery. Operations on the esophagus, lungs, especially on the heart, were performed by patients with the threat of imminent death, often in conditions when no one else could do them; personally saved thousands of lives. Worked honestly. Didn’t take money. Of course, I made mistakes, sometimes they ended in the death of the sick, but they were never the result of frivolity or negligence. I trained dozens of surgeons, created a clinic, then an institute, in which more than 80 heart patients alone were operated on. And before that, there were thousands more with other diseases, not to mention the wounded in the war. Surgery was my suffering and happiness.
All other classes were not so effective. Unless the propaganda of the “Restrictions and Loads Regime” has benefited people. The book «Meditations on Health» sold several million copies. The same applies to the story «Thoughts and Heart», which was published in thirty languages. Probably because she also closed herself in surgery. To suffering.
Cybernetics served only to satisfy curiosity, except for two dozen trained candidates and doctors of science.
My articles and lectures were a success and flattered vanity, and participation in the Supreme Council was rather forced, serving to maintain the prestige of the clinic. It did no harm to people, and no benefit either. In my personal life, I tried to be honest and treated people well. They paid me the same. However, I do not exaggerate my spiritual qualities: I am not a hero and not a fighter for the truth.
If I could start living again, I would choose the same thing: surgery and, in addition, philosophizing over the “eternal questions” of philosophy: truth, reason, man, society, the future of mankind.
N.M. Amosov, leading an active, sporty lifestyle, did not reduce his load over the years. He turned his life into an experiment: «Can you put off death if you never give up?»
Nikolai Mikhailovich Amosov, working until the last day, lived for 88 years.