Dr. Morgenstern: The unit's looking to you, Mark. You set the tone.
Dr. Romano: I'm beginning to think ER stands for Everyone's Retarded.
Patient: Are you married?
Dr. Lewis: No, I'm a doctor.
Dr. Ross: What can I say about Mark Greene that hasn't already been said? I think everybody knows how he overcame adversity as a child of Quakers, his years in exile, his political writings and limericks, his mod period with the turtlenecks, his blue period and of course, his ruthless march to power and the silencing of his rivals.
Dr. Corday: *walking into the OR to find a dog on the table* Robert, this is a dog.
Dr. Romano: Correction, Lizzie. This is my dog.
Dr. Greene: See, there's two kinds of doctors. The kind that gets rid of their feelings. And the kind that keeps them. If you're going to keep your feelings, you're going to get sick from time to time. That's just how it works.
Dr. Corday: I've found a way to limit my Romano exposure.
Dr. Benton: Oh, yeah, what's that? Garlic?
Nurse Haleh: I've been doin' this job for 17 years, honey. Doctors come and go, but nurses make this place run. We don't get much credit or pay. We see a lot of misery, a lot of dyin', but we come back every day. I've given up bein' appreciated, but I sure as hell won't let any of us be taken for granted.
Dr. Lewis: Frank, do you take your cholesterol medication?
Frank: No.
Dr. Lewis: Good.
Dr. Carter: *about Abby* She is the Obi Wan of nursing.
Dr. Pratt: What does that make you? Yoda?
Dr. Carter: Learn from her you will.
Dr. Kovac: Our job is to save lives, not to judge them.
Dr. Gallant: Dr. Lewis!
Dr. Lewis: *to herself* And I used to think that would be so cool to hear. "Dr. Lewis"...
Dr. Ross: Weaver and the sound of her own voice: A love story.
Dr. Carter: We have a man with a large carrot stuck in his colon coming in.
Lucy Knight: How did he ever swallow it whole?
Dr. Romano: I know most people don't like me. I don't care. I don't like most people. But I'm good at what I do. I save people's lives, everyday. People who no one else can help.
Dr. Carter: *to his mother* I got stabbed! I got stabbed in the back! Where the hell where you? You were the same place you've been my entire life; you were someplace else!
Dr. Kovac: *about working in the ER* It's really not so bad down here, Abby.
Nurse Abby: Oh yeah? Compared to what?
Dr. Carter: So, what are you gonna do tonight?
Dr. Chen: Oh, the usual. Get drunk, meet a random guy at the bar and have a night of wild sex until I pass out from sheer exhaustion.
Dr. Carter: Takeout and a hot bath?
Dr. Chen: Yeah.
Dr. Romano: You're scaring me, Peter, you're not your usual jolly self today. You haven't developed a drug addiction or a drinking problem like the rest of your misfit buddies in the ER, have you?
Dr. Benton: Nope.
Dr. Romano: Give it time.
Mrs. Benton: Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.
Dr. Carter: When you do everything you can, sometimes more then you thought you could, you've got to walk away knowing you fought the good fight. You fought the good fight, Lucy. And tomorrow you'll fight another one.
Nurse Lydia: *about an adult patient* Dr. Ross, got a patient.
Dr. Ross: I'm not a grown-up doctor.
Nurse Lydia: Don’t we all know that? But there’s no one else available.
Dr. Romano: Lizzie, get your ass in here!
Dr. Corday: I've lost my wedding ring.
Dr. Romano: Oh, boo hoo! This guy's about to lose a leg! I'd say 'chop chop' but that would be in extremely bad taste!
Dr. Carter: *reading dr. Greene's letter to the staff* Dear ER Gang, So here I am, out on the beach at 5:30 in the evening. Elizabeth is drinking juice, but I'm all about the Mai Tai's. The sun is going down, Rachel is dipping Ella's toes in the ocean as they head off on their quest for the perfect seashell. Weirdly enough, I find myself thinking, you know what would make this moment complete? Some jogger dropping to the sand, short of breath, so I can sweep in with a piece of bamboo to perform a nice, clean intubation, fix the guy up, and send him off with a good, simple dispo. Which I guess is my way of saying I miss you all and that dingy place. Lots of times I thought I should have chosen a different career or go into private practice, something easier, less grinding, more lucrative, but since I've been gone, I realize that outside of doing what I'm doing right now, sitting on this beach with my family, staying at County all those years, doing what we do on a daily basis was the best choice I ever made. I know what you're thinking, but trust me, it's not hard to appreciate once it's over. As much as a part of me would like to believe that the ER can't go on with out me, the smarter part realizes that you are an incredible group of doctors and nurses who approach every day with such skill, compassion and thoroughness, that when it comes to patient care, I know my absence will hardly be felt. In order to leave, I had to go the way I did, but I wouldn't want any of you to think that I didn't value each of you and the years we worked together, or that I didn't have things of a more personal nature to say. Most of you, I think, have an idea of what those things might be without me writing them down, but still... Ella is laughing and waving for me. Rachel found her shell. Mark. *a footnote from Elisabeth* Mark died this morning at 6:04 a.m. The sun was rising, his favorite time of day. I sent this on so that you might know he was thinking of you all and that he appreciated knowing you would remember him well.
