"My name is Ellsworth Wareham. I am a cardiothoracic surgeon. I have practiced that as my specialty all my professional life. I am 98 years of age and I practiced cardiothoracic surgery until age 95."

"I quit work when I was 95. And because of this, of course, I attracted some publicity from National Geographic. The people I worked with very much wanted me to continue. I felt I should spend a bit more time with my family. I could be working right now. I could do anything that I did then and I'm 98. I picked 95 as an arbitrary time when I would quit."

"I try to be active by working around my yard, doing the pruning of my bushes and mowing my own lawn. So I try to get a little exercise doing that."

"I try to maintain a calm approach to the problems of life and not worry and fret over problems that come along."

"I get a good night's sleep & if I feel like it, I take a nap during the day."

"I really try to be as careful as I can in preserving the energy I have."

"As far as my dietary program is concerned, I happen to be a vegan. I have been a vegan for almost half of my life. I think that's a healthy form of nutrition."

"I have always been inclined to be a vegetarian. My folks were farmers and we had quite a bit of meat. available. But it never appealed to eat animal products. I never did drink milk by the glass. I would use it on my cereal and of course, my mother and later on, my wife would use it in cooking. So I was naturally inclined towards a vegetable-type of diet. But I was concerned about the adequacy of nutrition. When I found out that I could get by (chuckles) with a little bit of Vitamin B12, I of course then became entirely vegan. And I think that it's a very fine form of nutrition.

"It's a little extreme to tell a person who is eating flesh foods that you're going to take everything entirely away from them. When I was in practice in medicine, I would tell the patients the vegetable-based diet was the healthy way to go. And as much as possible, keep away from animal products. It has to be something that the person wants to cooperate in."

"People are very sensitive about what they eat. You can talk to people about exercising and you can talk to people about relaxation and good mental attitude - mind things [and stuff] like that[ and they will accept that. If you talk to them about what they are eating, they are very sensitive about that!

"If an individual is willing to listen, I will try to explain to them on a scientific basis how it is better for them. I read a statement in the WSJ last year[ I figure it was in January of last year[ and I thought it was quite significant[ and it was this: that all tastes are acquired except for breast milk! This means, you see, that if you as a parent, wil start your child on healthy nutrition, they will like it. But an individual [ let's say who is old[ even my age[ can change their taste buds!"

"There are a lot of people who take too much salt and their food they think is flat unless they have a lot of salt. But if you diminish the amount of salt gradually, after a while, they won't know the difference. And in a matter of three months or so, you can do a great deal to change your taste habits, if you are willing to do it. IF a person is willing to go through the change and give themselves time, they will enjoy the foods that are healthy for them."