Paul Farmer

Medicine American 1959 – 2022 100 quotes

Co-founder of Partners In Health, focused on infectious diseases in poor countries, said 'The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world.'

Quotes by Paul Farmer

The greatest challenge of our time is to ensure that everyone has access to quality health care.

Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor 2009

I believe in the power of accompaniment.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World 2003

The only way to make a difference is to show up.

Interview 2014

We must never accept the unacceptable.

Speech 2016

The fight for health equity is a marathon, not a sprint.

Interview 2017

To truly heal, we must address the root causes of suffering.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World 2003

The greatest gift you can give is your time and your talent.

Speech 2018

We are called to be agents of change.

Speech 2019

The work is hard, but the rewards are immeasurable.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World 2003

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World (often attributed to Margaret Mead, but Farmer frequently used and embodied this sentiment) 2003

The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.

Interview 2011

I am a doctor who wants to be a physician-anthropologist, and I am an anthropologist who wants to be a physician.

AIDS and Accusations 1990

To deal with the underlying causes of global health inequities, we must address the social and economic conditions that perpetuate them.

Pathologies of Power 2003

Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale.

Speech 2005

The perpetual idealist is the realist.

Interview 2013

We need to stop thinking of health as an individual responsibility and start seeing it as a collective one.

Haiti After the Earthquake 2009

Poverty is not an accident, but a result of choices made by those in power.

Pathologies of Power 2004

If access to health care is considered a right, then who is responsible for making it so?

Infections and Inequalities 1999

The poor die because they are poor; the rich live because they are rich.

Letter 2001

Global health is about justice, not charity.

Speech 2010