The right of smokers to smoke ends where their behavior affects the health and well-being of others.
Interpretation
Smokers' rights should not compromise the health of non-smokers.
This quote by C. Everett Koop emphasizes the boundary between individual freedoms and the collective well-being of society. While smokers have the right to smoke, that right is limited when their actions negatively impact the health of those around them, highlighting the importance of considering the health of the community in discussions about personal liberties.
In practice
In a public health seminar discussing the effects of secondhand smoke.
When a faith-healer commands God to perform a miracle, in the absence of a prayer that says, 'Thy will be done,' it is, as far as I am concerned, the most rank form of arrogance . . . The faith-healer Bosworth once said that faith makes God act. If you follow that line of reasoning God is in His heaven, but Bosworth rules the world!
Your choice of diet can influence your long term health prospects more than any other action you might take.
When a child shows up for school, and is not physically and mentally ready to learn, he or she never catches up.
The health care industry can play a great role in this by being aware of the fact that these children form perhaps the most neglected group of people in the country, largely because it is hard to find them.
Cigarette smoking is clearly identified as the chief, preventable cause of death in our society.
Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation
Exercise is really important to me - it's therapeutic. So if I'm ever feeling tense or stressed or like I'm about to have a meltdown, I'll put on my iPod and head to the gym or out on a bike ride along Lake Michigan with the girls.
I have argued for years that we do not have a health care system in America. We have a disease-management system - one that depends on ruinously expensive drugs and surgeries that treat health conditions after they manifest rather than giving our citizens simple diet, lifestyle and therapeutic tools to keep them healthy.
When you look at the whole package of energy, the food you eat should match the story you want to live, which means: as fresh as possible, without dullness, repetition, and routine. As colorful as possible, giving delight to the eyes; food is a rainbow brought down to earth. As cheerful as possible, maximizing moments of happiness and pleasure.
What people need to know is that asthma isn't a minor 'wheeze-disease.' It kills over five thousand people in America every year, and I could've been one of them.
For far too many people, the stigma around addiction prevents them from stepping forward for help.
The physicians are the natural attorneys of the poor, and the social problems should largely be solved by them.
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