For me, an area of moral clarity is: you're in front of someone who's suffering and you have the tools at your disposal to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it, and you act.

Quote by Paul Farmer

Topics: Paul Farmer Quotes

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 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.

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...

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...

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.

I've been impressed, over the last 15 years, with how often the somewhat conspiratorial comments...

I've been impressed, over the last 15 years, with how often the somewhat conspiratorial comments...

Civil and political rights are critical, but not often the real problem for the destitute...

Civil and political rights are critical, but not often the real problem for the destitute...

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...

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...

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...

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...

I think we will see better vaccines within the next 15 years, but I'm not...

I think we will see better vaccines within the next 15 years, but I'm not...

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...

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,...

I'm not an austere person.

I'm not an austere person.

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...

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...

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...