Florence Nightingale on Imitating Christ

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) is most famous for her work as a nurse, particularly during the Crimean War, and noted social reformer. She’s less famously known as a prodigious statistician and for pioneering the practice of presenting statistics in graphical form. That said, it’s not a surprise that most are unaware of her mathematical prowess as the name “Florence Nightingale” is so inseparably linked to the nursing profession. Her birthday, May 12, is celebrated worldwide as International Nurses Day.

“People talk about imitating Christ, and imitate Him in the little trifling formal things, such as washing the feet, saying His prayer, and so on; but if anyone attempts the real imitation of Him, there are no bounds to the outcry with which the presumption of that person is condemned.”

-Florence Nightingale, Volume 2 of a privately printed work Suggestions for Thought to Searchers after Religious Truth (written in 1852, revised in 1859) [h/t Wikiquote]