C. Everett Koop

“There's no doubt that the single biggest thing that has improved our health is sanitation.”

“Drugs don't work in patients who don't take them.”

“Life is not merely to be alive, but to be well.”

“My responsibility is to the health of the American people.”

“Hospice is a place for living, not a place for dying.”

“The role of the Surgeon General is to be the nation's doctor, not the nation's chaplain.”

“The cigarette is the single most important preventable cause of death in our society.”

“It is the responsibility of the physician to be a teacher.”

“We are fighting a disease, not people.”

“This is a health problem, and it has to be handled as a health problem.”

“AIDS is an infectious disease. It is not a moral issue.”

“When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither, holler.”