Updated: June 18, 2023

Here’s a collection of quotes from the Korean drama, Dr. Romantic 3 (2023):

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“There are always variables at play. And where there is a will, there is a way.” – Director Park Minguk

“Even on the battlefield, it’s human nature to treat the injured, no matter what side they are from.” – Master Kim

• “The political situation is for the politicians to deal with.” – Master Kim
• “Saving lives come first.” – Dr. Cha Eunjae

“Sometimes, being overqualified isn’t everything.” – Master Kim

• “Are you asking me, a doctor, to decide what is more important? A human’s life or 40 trillion won?” – Master Kim
• “Sure, work-life balance. I also think that’s important. But you wanted to be a doctor. Then do what you must.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “If you don’t practice properly, your patients deal with the repercussions.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“It’s our job and ethos to save people. No matter how the world moves, let’s keep it ‘world and peace’ for us.” – Master Kim

“Oftentimes, between ethics and reality, what is right and what the solution is, is hard to balance. It’s just better for us to do our best as doctors.” – Master Kim

“Generally speaking, it’s important to make it down well. But this darn thing called pride makes a man act petty.” –  Professor Cha Jinman

“If you’re going down anyway, you might as well look cool doing it. But greed and arrogance make you try so hard. Only after you become a wreck will you finally be able to let it go.” – Professor Cha Jinman

“Is there no way for a man to look graceful while falling?” – Professor Cha Jinman

• “Just because something is simple doesn’t mean anyone can do it. A simple solution doesn’t make it easy.” – Master Kim
• “Stress is a type of illness, too.” – Dr. Jang Donghwa
• “We can’t end things before we open the door.” – Master Kim
• “If you pick up a sword, the least you can do is unsheathe it.” – Master Kim

“Effort and dedication should be left behind the moment you’ve given them. Hoping for some kind of payment or demanding recognition of your input, things will turn into a muddy mess in a flash.” – Master Kim

• “He’s your dad. And I”m your man. It doesn’t have to be so hard for you to ask me.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “Save the patient, no matter what. That was Master Kim’s first lesson that he taught us.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “Sometimes, there are levels that you can’t reach without going crazy. And Master Kim calls it romance.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“A doctor makes a diagnosis, not a prediction. We don’t deal with people who might get hurt. We deal with patients who are already hurt, sick, broken, or on their last breath.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

• “Patients come in everyday. I can’t hang onto those unfortunate situations.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “To avoid making the same mistake, all I can do is focus on the patient in front of me. That’s how I repay my shortcomings.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

• “They say it’s scariest when depression comes in the form of a smile.” – Nurse
• “There are only two types of doctors in the operating room. One who wants to save the patient and one who wants to learn.” – Master Kim
• “A doctor, as soon as he puts on his surgical gown, must not discriminate against any patient. All patients should treated equally and fairly.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “If not a compliment like ‘you did well’, I thought I’d at least hear something like ‘I’m proud of you’.” – Dr. Cha Eunjae

“I have seen many instances that surpass the boundaries of medicine. It’s what people call ‘miracles’. However, I call it the will of the person.” – Master Kim

• “Don’t give up. In the end, a person’s will is what makes a miracle.” – Master Kim
• “No matter where they stand in life, people will dream again. They don’t give up hope in the face of despair. To the end, they will want to prove that they are still alive. Even if it is false hope, they are unwilling to give up.” – Professor Cha Jinman

“There are only two outcomes. You either put the elephant in or the refrigerator breaks.” – Master Kim

• “I don’t perform surgery merely to show people my skills.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “I think declaring a patient’s death is the hardest thing to do.” – Dr. Yoon Areum
• “In life, you will run into more people you don’t get along with than the ones you do.” – Master Kim
• “That’s what unfounded complaints and excuses are like. They make you narrow-minded and petty.” – Master Kim

“Not knowing something is nothing to be ashamed of. You can learn. But I believe hiding the fact that you don’t know something is dangerous.” – Nurse Euntak

“Even if you study hard, memorize things, and watch videos, nothing beats actual experience.” – Dr. Cha Eunjae

• “On one hand, I have the guy I love. On the other hand, I have my dad whom I love. What can I do?” – Dr. Cha Eunjae
• “Don’t you know that she’s a clumsy kid? She’s just tall.” – Professor Cha Jinman
• “You see, marriage isn’t something you do just because you have feelings for them.”

“At that time, I didn’t realize that the more solid your heart is, the more difficult and meticulous the trials become. That the more solid it is, even the smallest of cracks can leave a mark.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“In this world, you can’t make it even if you try. No matter how hard you try, there’s a line that you can never cross. Still, they say you should do your best. That if you work as hard as you can, you can make it. Why do they keep giving us false hope? It’s infuriating.” – Wounded soldier

• “What can’t be done can’t be done. You’re born with different circumstances and have different starting points. Isn’t that right?” – Wounded soldier
• “The world is an unfair place. And it’s unjust. But still, don’t assume that others had it easy while achieving the things they worked so hard for. That would really infuriate me because I worked myself to the bone to get here.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“We may think differently. But I’ve never doubted your skills.” – Master Kim

• “I’m sorry but I’m going to live some more. I want to live some more.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “Eunjae, I wonder what would have become of me if I had never met you. If I had never met Master Kim in my life, what would have become of me?” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “Can I be that kind of person to someone as well?” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“They say saving one person is like saving a universe.” – Master Kim

“I believe that without a past, you don’t have a present. If you love the present, there’s no past you can’t understand.” – Dr. Yoon Areum

“Did you know? To me, everyday at Doldam Hospital is a spring day.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“The moment we give up, people will die.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“Doctors are humans, too. They’re allowed to cry as well.”

“Teachers are like that. They are people who can profoundly change someone’s life.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

• “What kind of person are you, Master Kim?” – Dr. Jang Donghwa
• “You should still stay strong. Only then can you keep living.”
• “What percentage of your mind do I make up?” – Dr. Yoon Areum
• “If I like you less, will you treat me better?” – Dr. Yoon Areum

“Not everyone in this world will understand our true intentions. They’re not that interested in us. So there’s no need to explain how hard we lived or how hard we tried.” – Master Kim

• “Just because we live silently doesn’t mean we disappear.” – Master Kim
• “What matters the most never disappears.” – Master Kim

• “In any organization, many ideas and opinions must be able to coexist to become a healthy organization.” – Master Kim
• “Dating is short but marriage is long. No matter how hard you pick and choose, you end up regretting who you marry.” – Eunjae’s mom

“No matter how much the world changes, I won’t allow you to live together before marriage. If he truly cared for you and loved you, he wouldn’t have made this decision. He decides to skip all procedures and formalities and irresponsibly start living together?” – Eunjae’s mom

• “People don’t consider marriage the event of a lifetime for no reason.”
• “Sometimes, I have feelings I want to keep to myself, too.” – Dr. Cha Eunjae
• “We’ve always faced hardships and crises. It has always been hard. Still, we never once tried to dodge those hardships like cowards. We always tried to find a way to break through it, and that’s how we got here.” – Master Kim

“A leader is someone who must fight the big waves upfront. That’s how other people don’t feel anxious or get swayed.” – Master Kim

• “Did my dad change? Or did I become a different adult compared to my dad?” – Dr. Cha Eunjae
• “You can hurt them more easily because they’re family, and there are times it hurts more because they’re family. Sometimes, you have to endure the cruelest, most painful times together.” – Eunjae’s mom
• “Only people who have received love can give love.” – Eunjae’s mom
• “You may be a good doctor, but being good to a family is another matter.” – Eunjae’s mom

“We’re not at the top to work the others to the bone and boss them around. We’re here to make a better world with our experience and insight.” – Master Kim

• “To be honest, I don’t understand your generation. You all say whatever you want to so easily, but fall apart just as easily when taking responsibility. You all have a weak mentality. You’re all so difficult and demanding.” – Professor Cha Jinman
• “Our thought processes have changed, and above all else, the world we live in is different. It’s no longer an era of possibilities. To the youths, we live in an era where we have to hold out.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“Do you know how to really get revenge? By becoming a better human than them. You prove to those who ignored you and discriminated against you that their prejudice and concerns were misplaced and nothing but nonsense with your skills.” – Master Kim

• “He never gave up on me no matter the situation. No matter the situation, he was on my side.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “You may be able to hide your actions but your conscience will haunt you forever.” – Master Kim

“There’s always a price to pay for every choice we make. However, most people don’t realize that at the moment. Only after time has passed will they realize what was lost because of the choices.” – Professor Cha Jinman

• “Don’t trust your capabilities and intelligence too much or else you might be proven otherwise.” – Professor Cha Jinman
• “You have always been a decorated hero to me.” – Dr. Cha Eunjae

“You have nothing to be afraid of. In an all-out-war, you go all-out. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” – Master Kim

“The teacher is still strange. The people are still strange. This hospital is still strange. And I have returned to that place.” – Dr. Kang Dongju

“The most important tool for a surgeon is his hand, not his scalpel.” – Dr. Kang Dongju

• “You have to go big or go home. Love without action is just being plain lazy.  And what happens to lazy love? It withers away quickly. It can never last long.” – Dr. Jang Donghwa
• “No matter what position it is, a leader can’t just pull his own weight. You have to be excellent, outstanding, ahead of the others, or work several times harder.” – Dr. Jung Insu
• “But it won’t change anything just because you can’t accept it.”
• “It’s hard when there’s a lot of work. But it’s also very hard when there’s no work to do.” – Nurse Joo

“Once you know the person, you can see his intention. Once you see his intention, you can read between the lines, too.” – Master Kim

“There’s only one way a parrotbill can keep up with a stork. It can be done by looking in the same direction as the stork. Without feeling intimidated by the stork’s pace and going at its own pace. It may take some time, but they’ll eventually arrive at the same place. It won’t lose direction or tear its legs apart.” – Dr. Bae

• “I don’t want to arrive late. I want to arrive together.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “Just because you can run, does that mean you can do both a marathon and a 100m race?” – Dr. Kang Dongju

“Everything is made by people. No matter how good a hospital is or how good the system is, you won’t be able to do anything without people.” – Master Kim

“What do you want to become? Do you want to be a boss or a leader?” – Master Kim

• “No matter how just the reason is, if the process of achieving it isn’t right, then it isn’t right.” – Master Kim
• “Regardless of how angry you are, ‘boycott’ is putting it nicely. It practically means making someone an outcast.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“Instead of nitpicking and asking ‘What’s wrong with you?’ you need to ask ‘Why are they doing this?’ And put yourself in their shoes. Once you understand them, there can be endless possibilities for a solution to the problem.” – Master Kim

“They say ‘You can’t achieve anything without going crazy.’ I guess we’re people who are crazy for those moments and always moving forward to achieve those moments.” – Dr. Cha Eunjae

“The patients always take priority over our rights. And our desperare voices only sound selfish to the world.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

• “Let’s respect each other no matter what decision we make. So you shouldn’t try to force anyone either.” – Dr. Cha Eunjae
• “Just because I’m back doesn’t mean I will compromise.” – Dr. Seo Woojin

“What we need now isn’t a single hero. It’s a leader who can unite us as one. You should be a leader who can tell people to join you.” – Nurse Oh

“The work that we do is impossible without everyone’s cooperation.” – Nurse Oh

“That weakness of yours has made you who you are now. So believe in the effort that you’ve put in so far. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Don’t be anxious about how others might see you or what they might think of you.” – Master Kim

“It’s not other people’s views of you that make you. It’s your own views that make you. Praise yourself more and be kind to yourself.” – Master Kim

“Great work, everyone. We really were a perfect team.” – Master Kim

“They say that life puts us to the test in two ways. Either nothing happens or everything happens all at once.” – Master Kim

“I think there’s a difference between being skilled and being gravitational. Your gravity pulled everyone here, Master Kim.” – Nurse Oh

• “Even if the forest fire passes and Doldam Hospital becomes ashes, Team Doldam will last forever as long as your gravity is around.” – Nurse Oh
• “For a long time, I couldn’t forget about that moment. Even the meaningless rain started to become meaningful.” – Dr. Jang Donghwa
• “I don’t know why my heart hurts more the more I like you.” – Dr. Yoon Areum

“The moments that I thought would never connect in my life started to connect one by one. The things I thought would just pass by are starting to become meaningful, one by one. And that meaning is taking shape and becoming tangible. It’s the moment when dreams come true.” – Master Kim

• “And the moment a dream comes true, you’ll encounter another reality because life goes on, regardless.” – Nurse Oh
• “What’s the point of reconstruction and building new cities if there’s no hospital to go to when you’re sick?” – Master Kim
• “What kind of hope can exist in a country when schools collapse and hospitals disappear?” – Nurse Oh
• “There’s no need to live as someone else has. You just need to live your own life.” – Master Kim
• “Honestly, I’m still not sure if I can do this job, if I want to keep doing this job, or if I want to stop doing it.” – Dr. Jang Donghwa
• “Is there a non-hard way to live? I’ve never seen anyone live an easy life.” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “I’m with people I love. What more could I ask for?” – Dr. Seo Woojin
• “There are beautiful values that most people know exist but believe they don’t. But despite that, they hope someone will protect.” – Nurse Euntak
• “To live is to enter a new path everyday. And to face a new reality everyday.” – Dr. Cha Eunjae / Dr. Insu

“Don’t give up on the question of why we live and what we live for. The moment we give up on that question, our romance is over.” – Master Kim

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Genre: Medical, Melodrama, Romance
Synopsis: The stories of doctors working at a rundown hospital in the countryside.
Cast: Han Suk-kyu, Ahn Hyo-seop, Lee Sung-kyung
Writers: Kang Eun Kyung, Lim Hye Min
Director: Kang Bo-seung
Network: SBS
Streaming platform: Disney+
Date: April 28, 2023

Subtitle translation: Disney+