Paracelsus -- “The Third Defense in Writing New Prescriptions [Die dritte Defension wegen des Schreibens der neuen Rezepte], Seven Defenses [Septem Defensiones] (1538)

Dave — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 00:07:11 +0000

All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; but the dose makes it clear that a thing is not a poison.

[Alle Ding sind Gift und nichts ohn’ Gift; allein die Dosis macht, daß ein Ding kein Gift ist.]

Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus (1493-1541) German alchemist and physician [Bombast von Hohenheim]
“The Third Defense in Writing New Prescriptions [Die dritte Defension wegen des Schreibens der neuen Rezepte], Seven Defenses [Septem Defensiones] (1538)

As quoted in F. Geerk, Paracelsus: Arzt unserer Zeit [Paracelsus: Doctor of Our Time] (1992). Variants:

"All drugs are poisons; the benefit depends on the dosage."
"All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy."

This is frequently (and misleadingly) paraphrased: "Everything is a drug; it depends on the dose."

Paracelsus -- A Treatise Concerning the Medicinal Philosophic Stone, Preface

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Let none, then, take it in bad part of me, that I myself have loved this truth and pursued it. I was forced to seek it, for it did not seek me. If a man wishes to see a foreign city, it is no good for him to stay at home with his head on his pillow.

Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus (1493-1541) German alchemist and physician [Bombast von Hohenheim]
A Treatise Concerning the Medicinal Philosophic Stone, Preface

Reprinted in Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, Part 2, by Arthur Edward Waite (2002).

WIST Quotations

Paracelsus -- “The Third Defense in Writing New Prescriptions [Die dritte Defension wegen des Schreibens der neuen Rezepte], Seven Defenses [Septem Defensiones] (1538)

Paracelsus -- A Treatise Concerning the Medicinal Philosophic Stone, Preface