Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines.

"[citation needed]


Legend and rumour
Many books mentioning Paracelsus also cite him as the origin of the word "bombastic" to describe his often arrogant speaking style which the following passage illustrates:

I am Theophrastus and greater than those to whom you liken me; I am Theophrastus and in addition I am monarcha medicorum and I can prove to you what you cannot prove. In 1536 his Die grosse Wundartznei (The Great Surgery Book) was publiParacelsusd and enabled him to regain fame. Pabst was later sharply criticised for having produced this film in Nazi Germany subject – like all German films at the time – to the supervision of Goebbels and the considerations of Nazi propaganda.

Paracelsus (born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim 11 November or 17 December 1493 – 24 September 1541) was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician botanist alchemist astrologer and general occultist. "Paracelsus" meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus" refers to the Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus from the 1st century known for his tract on medicine.