--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Medical care for the entire country seems…" description: "\"Medical care for the entire country seems to me a basic right. If every other country in the West can do it, why can't we?\" — Paul Auster" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/paul-auster-351_can-do_medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seem_129005.jpg" --- # Medical care for the entire country seems to me a basic… ![“Medical care for the entire country seems to me a basic right. If every other country in the West can do it, why can't we?” quote by Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/paul-auster-351_can-do_medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seem_129005.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/paul-auster-351_can-do_medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seem_129005.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/paul-auster-351_can-do_medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seem_129005.jpg) > “Medical care for the entire country seems to me a basic right. If every other country in the West can do it, why can't we?” [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Universal healthcare is a basic right, and if other Western nations provide it, we should be able to as well. **In simple terms:** Healthcare should be a basic right. Key Takeaway Advocate for universal health. Themes rights healthcare equality policy justice Mood determined hopeful Type political activist When to use this quote - public policy debate - community health initiatives Key Concepts politics ethics Practical Applications - Lobby for legislation - Support universal health programs Questions to Reflect On - What barriers prevent universal health? - How can societies fund it fairly? A Different Perspective May overlook economic constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Medical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical/) [Medical care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical-care/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Other countries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/other-countries/) ## Related quotes > [The government does not have some magic wand that can 'bring down the cost of health care.' It can buy a smaller quantity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-government-does-not-have-some-magic-wand-that-can-bring-down-the/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The access to clean air and clean water is a basic right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-won-soon/the-access-to-clean-air-and-clean-water-is-a-basic-right/) [Park Won-soon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-won-soon/) > [Clean air is a basic right. The responsibility to ensure that falls to Congress and the president.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carper/clean-air-is-a-basic-right-the-responsibility-to-ensure-that-falls-to/) [Thomas Carper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carper/) > [It is our basic right to be a happy person, happy family, and eventually a happy world. That should be our goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/it-is-our-basic-right-to-be-a-happy-person-happy-family-and/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [On this basic - being right and doing right the whole world can unite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/on-this-basic-being-right-and-doing-right-the-whole-world-can-unite/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [It seems to me that it is the basic right of any human being to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/it-seems-to-me-that-it-is-the-basic-right-of-any-human-being-to-work/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/this-right-to-vote-is-the-basic-right-without-which-all-others-are/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Once the government becomes the supplier of people's needs, there is no limit to the needs that will be claimed as a basic right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-auster/once-the-government-becomes-the-supplier-of-people-s-needs-there-is/) Lawrence Auster > [I believe health care is a basic right. If education - you're entitled to an education, why wouldn't you be entitled to adequate health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/i-believe-health-care-is-a-basic-right-if-education-you-re-entitled/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [I'm going to live long enough to live in an America that will assume universal health care is a basic right. That will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-m-going-to-live-long-enough-to-live-in-an-america-that-will-assume/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Fair and affordable housing is a basic right for all New Yorkers and all Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nydia-velazquez/fair-and-affordable-housing-is-a-basic-right-for-all-new-yorkers-and/) [Nydia Velazquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nydia-velazquez/) > [When it comes to economy, my district is the fourth largest concentration of manufacturing jobs of any district in the entire country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/when-it-comes-to-economy-my-district-is-the-fourth-largest/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [When you help sportspersons achieve their full potential, you propel the sporting quotient of the entire country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ms-dhoni/when-you-help-sportspersons-achieve-their-full-potential-you-propel/) [MS Dhoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ms-dhoni/) > [When my father was the Prime Minister, was there any terrorist activity in this country? The entire country was calm at that time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-kumaraswamy/when-my-father-was-the-prime-minister-was-there-any-terrorist/) [H. D. Kumaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-d-kumaraswamy/) > [Today, the entire country is an immense University.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/today-the-entire-country-is-an-immense-university/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) ## More by Paul Auster > [“On his best walks, he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally, was all he ever asked of things: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/on-his-best-walks-he-was-able-to-feel-that-he-was-nowhere-and-this/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“No es que escribir me produzca un gran placer, pero es mucho peor si no lo hago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/no-es-que-escribir-me-produzca-un-gran-placer-pero-es-mucho-peor-si/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [You see, the interesting thing about books, as opposed, say, to films, is that it's always just one person encountering the book, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/you-see-the-interesting-thing-about-books-as-opposed-say-to-films-is/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I'm not a man deeply interested in technology. It eludes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-m-not-a-man-deeply-interested-in-technology-it-eludes-me/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling. Every word has to count.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-joke-is-the-purest-most-essential-form-of-storytelling-every-word/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“What people saw when he appeared before them, then, was not really him, but a person he had invented, an artificial creature he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/what-people-saw-when-he-appeared-before-them-then-was-not-really-him/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I had made an empirical discovery and it carried all the weight of a mathematical proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-had-made-an-empirical-discovery-and-it-carried-all-the-weight-of-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [As long as there's one person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/as-long-as-there-s-one-person-to-believe-it-there-s-no-story-that-can/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Writing has always had a tactile quality for me. It's a physical experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-has-always-had-a-tactile-quality-for-me-it-s-a-physical/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [People look at the same passage, and one person will say this is the best thing he's ever read, and another person will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/people-look-at-the-same-passage-and-one-person-will-say-this-is-the/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-was-very-moved-to-see-that-the-name-of-the-boat-was-hamlet-an/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The ideal reader's the same, and I suppose this person has never had a face or a gender or an age. It's just some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-ideal-reader-s-the-same-and-i-suppose-this-person-has-never-had-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“Most lives vanish. A person dies, and little by little all traces of that life disappear. An inventor survives in his inventions, an architect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/most-lives-vanish-a-person-dies-and-little-by-little-all-traces-of/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“and cut down many trees. When the Humans”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/and-cut-down-many-trees-when-the-humans/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) [Explore all 582 Paul Auster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## More Can do quotes > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [If I had a million dollars, I just wouldn't just completely set back. I'd have to get out there and show my face to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muddy-waters/if-i-had-a-million-dollars-i-just-wouldn-t-just-completely-set-back-i/) [Muddy Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muddy-waters/) > [Anybody can be Prince Charming one day a year, with the dinner and the flowers and all that. But you know what impresses me?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-howard/anybody-can-be-prince-charming-one-day-a-year-with-the-dinner-and-the/) [Ryan Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-howard/) > [And if the mind thinks with a believing attitude one can do amazing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/and-if-the-mind-thinks-with-a-believing-attitude-one-can-do-amazing/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/it-s-nice-when-you-ve-done-enough-movies-that-you-can-do-your-own/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) > [If people don't have their own vision, all they can do is 'sign-up' for someone else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/if-people-don-t-have-their-own-vision-all-they-can-do-is-sign-up-for/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [The one thing that flies in the face of all human history and experience, is that the government can do a superior job than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/the-one-thing-that-flies-in-the-face-of-all-human-history-and/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [...what I can do is offer myself, wholehearted and present, to walk with the people I love through the fear and the mess. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/what-i-can-do-is-offer-myself-wholehearted-and-present-to-walk-with/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [Whether that's speaking up in your job or asking for a promotion or saying, 'I think I can do that.' Using your voice in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/whether-that-s-speaking-up-in-your-job-or-asking-for-a-promotion-or/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/the-average-ordinary-citizen-can-do-a-lot-of-different-things-when-it/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn't feel like it. An amateur is a man who can't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agate/a-professional-is-a-man-who-can-do-his-job-when-he-doesn-t-feel-like/) [James Agate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agate/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [I'm not an educated man. I only know what I'm told, and I'm not told that much; I have no frame of reference for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-m-not-an-educated-man-i-only-know-what-i-m-told-and-i-m-not-told/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) Browse all 5,673 Can do quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Medical care for the entire country seems to me a basic right. If every other country in the West can do it, why can't we?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Auster" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seems-to-me-a-basic-right-if/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Can do" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seems-to-me-a-basic-right-if/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/paul-auster-351_can-do_medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seem_129005.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/paul-auster-351_can-do_medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seem_129005.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/paul-auster-351_can-do_medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seem_129005.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Medical care for the entire country seems to me a basic right. If every other country in the West can do it…” — Paul Auster", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Auster", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Medical care for the entire country...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seems-to-me-a-basic-right-if/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/medical-care-for-the-entire-country-seems-to-me-a-basic-right-if/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```