Patch Adams: Being a Prick to Get Things Done

One dialogue I've always remembered and has shaped my attitude towards graduate school: you don't need to be a prick to get things done.

Best embodied and lesson made most memorable by the movie Patch Adams, based on the real-life medical school experiences of a doctor by that name.

In one scene there's a heated exchange between the easygoing, heavy-joking, radical-thinking Patch Adams and his uptight, born-to-be-a-doctor roommate, Mitch.

Patch: Why don't you like me? You're a prick, and I like you.

Mitch: Because you make my effort a joke. I want to be a doctor. This isn't a game to me! This isn't play time! This is serious business! I have it in me to be a great doctor!

In order to do that I have to sacrifice if I want to be better.

Patch: Better than me, hmm?

Mitch: I will save lives that could otherwise not have been saved. Now I could be like you and go around laughing and have a good time haha, but I prefer to learn. Because the more I learn the more likely I will have the answer at a crucial moment and save a life.

You say I'm a prick? You say I'm a prick? You know maybe I am. But you ask the average person when death comes knocking at their door whether they want a prick on their side or some kindergarten teacher who's gonna kiss their ass.

Because when that day comes, I want the prick! And so will you.

Patch: You know I forget how young you are Mitch, that you think you need to be a prick to get things done. You actually think that that's a new idea.

The scene in question begins at 45:22 in the video below.