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

In medicine, as in life, the best outcomes come from accompaniment.

Interview 2011

Structural violence is the violence of inequality.

Pathologies of Power 2003

We must listen to the voices of the afflicted, not just treat their symptoms.

AIDS and Accusations 1997

Health care without justice is not health care.

Speech 2005

The future of global health depends on our willingness to confront inequality head-on.

To Repair the World 2015

I've learned that people will forget what you said, but never how you made them feel.

Personal reflection 2008

Tuberculosis is a social disease, not just a medical one.

Interview 1996

Primum non nocere applies to policies as much as to treatments.

Pathologies of Power 2004

In Haiti, I learned that hope is a form of resistance.

Haiti After the Earthquake 2010

Doctors without borders? We need borders without doctors' neglect.

Speech 2002

Equity in health is not a luxury; it's a necessity.

Interview 2012

The measure of a society's soul is how it treats its most vulnerable.

Personal reflection 2009

AIDS doesn't kill; neglect does.

AIDS and Accusations 1990

We are all diminished when any of us are denied basic rights.

Pathologies of Power 2003

Innovation without equity is just another form of exclusion.

Speech 2014

Life's meaning is found in service to others.

Letter 2007

The global south teaches us humility in medicine.

Infections and Inequalities 1999

Politics is the art of making possible what is necessary.

Interview 2005

Healing begins with hearing.

Personal reflection 2011

Charity is no substitute for justice.

Pathologies of Power 2003