Medical students still swear oaths in august ceremonies. Most sense they are being asked to inhabit a worn-out creed as if it was still meaningful. Higgins writes for undergraduate general education, but I thought of medical students. The real oaths are, Higgins reminds, humane vocational acts which help a trainee in “finding a worthy form of work to which you are suited, becoming aware of the ethical geography in and around your practice, and preparing yourself to leave that work if and when the time comes.” In his essays, Higgins meanders from philosophers to artists to educators. The form is the content: the dense variety of thinkers makes Higgins case that a formative education is not acquiring credentials but an integrated life.