author
Austin O'Malley
1858–1932
Best remembered for his sharp aphorisms, this physician-writer brought wit, learning, and a dry eye for human nature to everything he wrote. His work moves easily between medicine, literature, and memorable observation.
2 Audiobooks
The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation
by Austin O'Malley
Essays In Pastoral Medicine
by Austin O'Malley, James J. (James Joseph) Walsh
About the author
Born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, in 1858, Austin O'Malley built an unusually wide-ranging career as both a doctor and a man of letters. Reliable biographical sources describe him as an ophthalmologist who also taught English literature at the University of Notre Dame.
He is most often remembered as an aphorist, especially for Keystones of Thought and Thoughts of a Recluse, books packed with brief, polished observations on art, religion, education, and everyday behavior. That mix of medical training and literary instinct helped give his writing its distinctive tone: precise, skeptical, and often very funny.
O'Malley died in 1932, but his sayings have had a long afterlife because they are compact, quotable, and still feel surprisingly fresh. For listeners who enjoy classic nonfiction with wit and personality, he offers the pleasures of both a thinker and a stylist.