S1 E5:絲凱勒告訴艾略特沃特罹癌,還理直氣壯,沃特不滿:「我不喜歡你跟別人說我的私事,尤其是跟那些已經遠離我們生活的人說。」 (“I don’t like the way you talk about my private affairs to people who are not even in our lives anymore.”)
“Sometimes, I feel like I never actually make any of my own. Choices, I mean. My entire life, it just seems I never… you know, had a real say about any of it. Now this last one, cancer. All I have left is how I choose to approach this.” 「有時候,我覺得自己從沒有為自己而活。我指的是為自己做選擇。我這一生似乎從未真正為了自己而選擇過。現在最後的選擇來了 — — 癌症,我唯一能做的選擇是如何面對癌症。」
“But what good is it, to just survive if I am too sick to work, to enjoy a meal, to make love? For what time I have left, I want to live in my own house. I want to sleep in my own bed. I don’t wanna choke down 30 or 40 pills every single day, lose my hair, and lie around, too tired to get up and so nauseated that I can’t even move my head. And you cleaning up after me? Me, with some dead man, some artificially alive, just marking time? No. No. And that’s how you would remember me. That’s the worst part.” 「僅僅是活著又能怎樣呢?要是我病得無法工作,無法享受美食,無法做愛?我想在我剩下的日子,住在自己的家裡,睡在自己的床上。我不想每天吞 30 片還是 40 片藥,掉髮,還得掩飾,接著臥床不起,反胃得連腦袋都不能動。然後妳就成天守在病榻前清理我的穢物嗎?我和死人,和靠人工維持生命的人,就在那邊等死?不,不要。你最後只會記得那樣的我,而這是我最不願意的。」
對絲凱勒而言,沃特接受治療對雙方有益;對沃特而言,治療反而會讓雙方都有所損失,所以沃特在舉了一連串自己可能的慘況之後,提到了絲凱勒得做的,用的不是照顧 (take care) 或看護 (nurse),而是清理穢物 (clean up after)。
第三集中,瘋狂小八曾說這樣拴住關著他太恥辱了 (“This is degrading.”),要嘛放走他要嘛殺死他。後來沃特為此苦惱不已時,在筆記本寫下「讓小八活」的理由之一是生命的尊嚴 (sanctity of life)。小八寧願死也不願意被囚禁,而沃特則寧願死,也不想活著卻不成人樣。他想活出自我,以癌之名。