Oliver Sacks: Essays on Gratitude and Human Life

“My predominant feeling is one in every of gratitude. I’ve cherished and been cherished. I’ve been given a lot and I’ve given one thing in return. Above all, I’ve been a sentient being, a pondering animal, on this lovely planet, and that in itself has been an infinite privilege and journey.”
—Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks is unparalleled in depicting the profound intersection of personal struggles and the human experience in the face of illness. Through his poignant essays, Sacks eloquently captures the harsh realities of sickness and the resilience of the human spirit like no other author.

In the final months of his life, the author, Dr. Sacks, penned a moving series of essays delving into his personal reflections on human existence, mortality, and his own impending demise.

In his essays, author Sacks beautifully reflects on the essence of human existence. He eloquently states that each person is destined to be a unique individual, to discover their own path, live their personal life, and ultimately face their individual demise.

Collectively, these 4 essays kind an ode to the individuality of every human being and to gratitude for the present of life.

“Oliver Sacks was like no different clinician, or author. He was drawn to the houses of the sick, the establishments of probably the most frail and disabled, the firm of the weird and the ‘irregular.’ He needed to see humanity in its many variants and to take action in his personal, virtually anachronistic method—nose to nose, over time, away from our burgeoning equipment of computer systems and algorithms. And, by way of his writing, he confirmed us what he noticed.”
—Atul Gawande, writer of Being Mortal