marcusesstories 's review for:

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

4.0

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Wow. Want to feel like you're not doing enough? Contrast yourself with Doctor Paul Farmer. This is the kind of man who should be a regular correspondent on news shows and a regular writer in magazines. His message should be out there again and again because it is like the moral conscience of our time. Instead, the news would rather obsess over whether the president is mad at a congressperson because the congressperson didn't say he was mad at a lawyer who said he was mad about something some Kardashian posted on Twitter.

There's a big world out there with big problems. And people who struggle every day just to have a tomorrow. To read about someone leading a fight that really matters can be so inspiring. But it can also call you out. Very likely what you consider an okay day is a wish dream to a large percentage of the world. You have luxuries and privileges that have become addictions to you. There will never be enough, not enough for you to feel completely satisfied, let alone to share a lot of it with those desperate masses, let alone to dedicate your life to helping those who need it most.

So tread carefully. Paul Farmer's message may make you very proud of him. But it might not make you so proud of yourself.