Quotes: Paul Farmer

Tracy Kidder on Paul Farmer in Mountains Beyond Mountains

And I can imagine Farmer saying he doesn't care if no one else is willing to follow [his] example. He's still going to make these hikes, he'd insist, because if you way that seven hours is too long to walk for two families of patients, you're saying that their lives matter less than some others', and the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.

I think whenever a people has enormous resources, it is easy for them to call themselves democratic... the rich can always call themselves democratic, but the sick people are not among the rich... Look, I'm very proud to be an American. I have many opportunities because I'm American, I can travel freely throughout the world, I can start projects, but that's called privilege, not democracy.

"Paul is the model of what should be done. He's not a model for how it has to be done. Let's celebrate him. Let's make sure people are inspired by him. But we can't say anybody should or could be just like him." He added, "Because if the poor have to wait for a lot of people like Paul to come along before they get good health care, they are totally f***ed."