Civil and political rights are critical, but not often the real problem for the destitute sick. My patients in Haiti can now vote but they can't get medical care or clean water.

Quote by Paul Farmer

Topics: Paul Farmer Quotes

So I can't show you how, exactly, health care is a basic human right. But...

So I can't show you how, exactly, health care is a basic human right. But...

Anywhere you have extreme poverty and no national health insurance, no promise of health care...

Anywhere you have extreme poverty and no national health insurance, no promise of health care...

For me, an area of moral clarity is: you're in front of someone who's suffering...

For me, an area of moral clarity is: you're in front of someone who's suffering...

It is clear that the pharmaceutical industry is not, by any stretch of the imagination,...

It is clear that the pharmaceutical industry is not, by any stretch of the imagination,...

Again, conventional Catholicism does not much appeal to me.

Again, conventional Catholicism does not much appeal to me.

But as for activism, my parents did what they could, given the constraints, but were...

But as for activism, my parents did what they could, given the constraints, but were...

I'm one of six kids, and the eight of us lived for over a decade...

I'm one of six kids, and the eight of us lived for over a decade...

The human rights community has focused very narrowly on political and civil rights for many...

The human rights community has focused very narrowly on political and civil rights for many...

But if you're asking my opinion, I would argue that a social justice approach should...

But if you're asking my opinion, I would argue that a social justice approach should...

I recommend the same therapies for all humans with HIV. There is no reason to...

I recommend the same therapies for all humans with HIV. There is no reason to...

The poorest parts of the world are by and large the places in which one...

The poorest parts of the world are by and large the places in which one...

I mean we grew up in a TB bus and I became a TB doctor.

I mean we grew up in a TB bus and I became a TB doctor.

I would say that, intellectually, Catholicism had no more impact on me than did social...

I would say that, intellectually, Catholicism had no more impact on me than did social...

The only way to do the human rights thing is to do the right thing...

The only way to do the human rights thing is to do the right thing...

The thing about rights is that in the end you can't prove what should be...

The thing about rights is that in the end you can't prove what should be...

I critique market-based medicine not because I haven't seen its heights but because I've seen...

I critique market-based medicine not because I haven't seen its heights but because I've seen...

We've taken on the major health problems of the poorest - tuberculosis, maternal mortality, AIDS,...

We've taken on the major health problems of the poorest - tuberculosis, maternal mortality, AIDS,...

At the same time, it is obvious that clinicians in Haiti are faced with different,...

At the same time, it is obvious that clinicians in Haiti are faced with different,...

In fact, it seems to me that making strategic alliances across national borders in order...

In fact, it seems to me that making strategic alliances across national borders in order...

I'm not an austere person.

I'm not an austere person.