In chapter nine of his ten-chapter speech, Foege dismissed every conventional measure of civilization — science, technology, wealth, education, happiness — as ultimately failing. Only one measure holds: how people treat each other. He supported this with three converging sources: President Carter's favorite Bible verse ('Be ye kind one to another'), his own brother's dying advice to his son ('Be kind to people'), and Plato's observation that 'everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.' For a man who spent his career fighting disease at a global scale, the most important thing came down to simple human kindness.