The art is long, life is short, opportunity fleeting, experiment dangerous, judgment difficult.

Hippocrates was reluctant to administer drugs and engage in specialized treatment that might prove to be wrongly chosen; generalized therapy followed a generalized diagnosis. Hippocrates II. Now the physician focuses on specific diagnosis and specialized treatment both of which were espoused by the Knidian school.

He is referred to as the father of western medicine in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of the Hippocratic School of Medicine. Hippocrates is commonly portrayed as the paragon of the ancient physician credited with coining the Hippocratic Oath still relevant and in use today.