Doctors don't know everything really. They understand matter, not spirit. And you and I live in the spirit.

The speaker draws a boundary between medical knowledge—grounded in the physical body—and the less measurable realm of “spirit,” meaning inner life, dignity, imagination, and the will to live. Saroyan often champions ordinary human resilience and the irreducible value of feeling and hope against institutions that claim authority. Here, the line suggests that clinical expertise can miss what most sustains people: purpose, love, and a sense of meaning. The closing “you and I” makes the claim intimate and communal, implying that survival and identity are not merely biological facts but shared, lived experiences that exceed material explanation.